PREPAREDNESS: AREA COMMUNITIES TAKE ACTION

ALLENVILLE -- The Whitewater Fire Department moved one of its fire engines to Allenville during the "Flood of '93."

When the water gets too high, there's no way a fire truck can get into Allenville, one of the communities that depends on the Whitewater Fire District for fire protection.

"This was a safety precaution," said Whitewater Fire Chief Wes Blumenberg. "Five of our volunteer department members lived in the immediate Allenville area."

The Whitewater Fire Protection District, established in 1994, might put a fire station in Allenville.

"We're discussing that possibility," Blumenberg said. "We have two stations in our district and may add a third at Allenville.

The department has stations at Whitewater and Crump.

Allenville already has its own hose van, which was acquired from a private donor.

"We have fire hydrants in town, and this hose van can give us an earlier response to a fire here," said W.D. Welker, a fire district volunteer.

"This provides another plus for the Whitewater District," said Blumenberg, a carpenter and construction worker who doubles as a fire volunteer.

The van is kept at Welker's home until the decision on a firehouse.

"The van gives us good standby capabilities," said Welker, who retired from the Cape Girardeau Fire Department in 1982. "We have also received some emergency firefighting equipment. "

The Whitewater District is one of seven rural departments in Cape Girardeau County and was the last volunteer group to organize as a tax-supported fire district, in 1994.

The district provides fire protection for Allenville, Whitewater, Crump and the Lake Girardeau area. There are more than 1,000 people in the fire district.

Like other rural fire departments that organized into tax-supported fire districts, the Whitewater Fire Department had depended on donations or "memberships" for its funding.

Although the Whitewater District is fairly new, the Whitewater Volunteer Fire Department has been around a while.

"We'll be observing our 20th anniversary next month," Blumenberg said. The anniversary observance will be at 6 p.m. June 6 at Whitewater.

The department was created in 1978. Prior to that, Whitewater had to call the Delta Fire Department for help.

A number of dances, bake sales, raffles, donations and special suppers were used to provide funds for Whitewater's first pumper truck and equipment.

Today, the department has seven vehicles -- a pumper, a tanker and a pickup truck at each of the two stations, and the hose van at Allenville.

"We have a good fire department," said Blumenberg. "We have decent response time, and we have a great crew."

"We could use some more volunteers," said Blumenberg. "We have a dozen people, but all have full-time jobs. We could use a few more."

Blumenberg said the department was doing "pretty well" financially.

The tax funds take care of most expenses. "I can remember when the department started 20 years ago, we didn't have gas money for one pumper truck."

The department, said Blumenberg, is a big asset to the community.