I have fireworks3, so it may be different in your version, but...
you have to use the "frames" feature. Go to window>frames pallette and you'll see what I mean. In order to achieve the text fading in and out effect, you need to use the window>object pallette and manipulate the "object opacity" slider bar.
So in frame 1 you put your text at 100% opacity.
make and exact copy and put it in frame 2
select that copy and while it is selected, make its opacity slightly, smaller, like 75%
repeat the above process several times, each time incrementally reducing the opacity until it's 0% - that will give the impression of text fading in and out. The more frames and the smaller increments you use, the smoother it'll look, but the longer it'll take to make, and the larger the files size.
To achieve a blur - you need to go to window>effect Under there there is an option to blur the object selected to whatever point you need it to go.
In my version of fireworks, all of these choices come under one pallette, and you just click on different tabs to get the above mentioned features.
Hope that helps a little.
SC Q: Why is my computer doing that?
A: Random Perversity of Inanimate
Objects