QUALITIES OF LIFE: FIRES ARE UNDER CONTROL, BUT STILL NO SPARE TIME FOR CREWS

Fewer and fewer fires over the past four years in Cape Girardeau is allowing firefighters to do more in other areas, said Dan White, Fire Department chief.

Other emergency requests for assistance have increased, and the department is seeking new equipment and advanced training to handle them, White said.

From a decade high of 266 fires in 1994, the number has fallen to 160 last year, the chief said. Years of fire safety education is one explanation for the change. Another reason White gives for the trend, which is taking place both locally and nationally, are milder winters. This allows more people to use less heat, diminishing the threat of fire from unattended or poorly maintained heaters, he said.

But fewer fires have not meant spare time for firefighters. Since emergency medical personnel from the fire department began responding to all ambulance calls, emergency medical service has jumped from 14 incidents in 1992 to 1,459 last year, White said.

The overall number of calls in 1998 was 2,515, he said.

Other service calls have also grown. Hazardous materials responses have gone from 58 in 1996 to 91 and 82 in the past two years. Part of this has to do with changing definitions, White said.

"For years and years a gasoline spill wouldn't have been classified as a hazmat call," he said. "We would just rinse it off the street into a storm sewer."

Now firefighters use a clay-based absorbent for gasoline.

"Really, it just works along the same lines as kitty litter," White said.

The increase in calls is systematic of a growing community, he said. Along with that, training, staffing and equipment needs have enlarged.

"We have enough people to get the job done, but we don't have a lot on duty at one time," White said. "Right now we can handle the small fires."

The chief wants to add another paramedic engine company to one of the four stations in Cape Girardeau. To do this, more equipment is necessary, especially for heart monitoring, he said.

Such an addition wouldn't be possible at Station No. 3, which is too small, or No. 4, which isn't small but is located on land that doesn't allow for expansion, he said.

This is why the department purchased 1.7 acres of land on north Sprigg Street near Jeffrey Drive in 1994. Property in the former Smeltersville area of south Cape Girardeau is also owned by the fire department, and is slated for construction of a training facility.

An expansion of the department's headquarters is also part of a general capital improvements plan, but White said nothing will be built until the City Council authorizes spending.

Altogether, these projects would cost approximately $1.2 million to complete, he said.

Another item being sought is a special rescue trailer. The 20-by-8 foot trailer would be used to transport bulky, oversized equipment into special rescue situations, White said.

"We've been trained now for trench, fast water, confined space and high angle rescues, but we need the equipment," he said. "We can't just go down and jump in a ditch anymore."