Getting fired up about history

October is such a busy month, what with Halloween decorating, stalking candy bargains, getting yourself registered to vote by the Wednesday deadline and reminding every woman you know to get a mammogram.

But take a minute, perhaps now, to test the smoke detectors in your house.

If you don't have smoke detectors, make plans to buy them during Fire Prevention Week, which ends Saturday.

Every firefighter I've ever interviewed says smoke detectors are the single most important household safety measure, along with having an evacuation plan.

Mike Ramsey, a battalion chief with the city of Cape Girardeau Fire Department, echoed the sentiment at the end of a conversation this week. I'd called for an update on a project he and Capt. Sam Welker are doing. They are documenting the fire department's history, which dates to 1867, Ramsey said. Back then, it was called the Good Intent Fire Department, run by volunteers with some financial help from the city.

In those days, firefighters' jobs focused on limiting the scope of damage -- "preventing or avoiding multiple homes going up at once, as opposed to a real aggressive intent to save the property itself," Ramsey said. Technology has made huge strides since then, the smoke detector being just one.

Ramsey said he and Welker haven't yet started writing the book-length department history, though they have outlined a decade-by-decade progression. If you have information, photos or other fire department history to share, contact Ramsey by e-mail at mramsey@cityofcapegirardeau.org or call 334-3211.

He anticipates the 200-page being book published sometime in mid-2009.

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My parents didn't have smoke detectors in 1970, but our house did have older siblings. My sister Paula once caught our brother Kevin and I (then 10 and 11, respectively) playing with fire -- on his bunk bed. Paula had the presence of mind to call a firefighter living a few houses away. He was, fortunately, at home and seemed to get to our house in an instant. When he tossed the mattress into the front yard, it burst into flames.

We were lucky, though Kevin and I didn't feel so at the time. Total actual damage amounted to a burnt mattress and the spike in our parents' blood pressures.

Candace Quinn was less fortunate. She lost everything when fire consumed her 80-year-old Massachusetts house in 2002. Quinn, chief executive officer for Southeast Missouri Hospital, grew up in a firefighting family. Her response to the tragedy became a 90-page book, "I Survived a House Fire ... I Wish My Stuff Had."

I'm reading the book now. Look for a story on Quinn and her experience later this week in the Southeast Missourian.

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Cathi Stoverink, Jackson Heritage Association archivist, is looking for volunteers to help spruce up the Oliver House, once home to "Missouri's Betsy Ross," Marie Watkins Oliver.

Master gardeners recently did "an outstanding job" of landscaping, turning what was once a rather frumpy space into a "a habitat helper. We help the little birds and butterflies," Stoverink said.

On Saturday, volunteers can help inside with dusting, sweeping and other household tasks, while outdoor types may be more interested in raking or pulling weeds. The work is just part of the long-term preparation for the open house dates in December.

The work is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Oliver House, 224 East Adams St.

Questions, suggestions or tips for Lost on Main Street? E-mail pmcnichol@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 127.