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Officials gather fire protection information Melodie Phelps News Editor County and city officials continued to gather more information about fire protection during a special work session between Fiscal Court and City Council held Tuesday, February 22 at the ASPIRE Center. The city is currently providing fire protection to county residents under a contract extension that will expire March 31. The city has approved a new contract between the two governments, but it has not been approved by the fiscal court. During a meeting several weeks ago, county officials indicated they would like to have more information before agreeing to a new contract. The result was Tuesday afternoonıs meeting, which centered around ISO ratings. Mike Rundell, an ISO Field Representative, spoke to the group, then fielded a number of questions. Rundell noted that his office assigns a class number to a fire department and the district it serves. Rundell said that field representatives from ISO actually visit a community and analyze fire fighting abilities of a fire department. Then, a classification from 1 through 10 is assessed. For example, Monticello is currently a Class 5 inside the city limits, which means a homeowner in that area will likely pay a smaller insurance premium than someone who lives in rural Wayne County. Rundell said that an area outside the city of Monticello, but within five miles of the fire station, is actually a Class 5/9. That means a residence could fall into a Class 5 if it is located within this area and is within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant. Beyond that, the remainder of Wayne County is a Class 10. Rundell pointed out that a lot of insurance companies will not write policies for a residence in a Class 10 area. Several magistrates had questions about how fire protection could better be improved for rural residents in Wayne County. Rundell replied that could be accomplished several different ways, including the location of sub-stations in communities. Or communities could have independent fire stations to help improve their fire protection. Rundell said the biggest problem with rural fire departments is finding enough volunteers to respond to a fire. There must be a minimum of four people responding to a structure fire, Rundell noted. Members of the Susie Fire Department attended the session and asked Rundell about their rating. They have not been ISO rated, so they are automatically a 10, according to Rundell. If the rural department requests an ISO rating, Rundell said he felt they could lower from a Class 10 to a Class 9. County Judge-Executive Bruce Ramsey asked how that change would impact insurance rates for homeowners in that area. Rundell said that depending on the insurance company, the savings in a premium could be from 40 to 60 percent. No action was taken by either city or county government during the session. Add a comment |
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