County Looking at Ways To Improve ISO Ratings

Fire departments, fire safety and fire insurance seem like they will be a hot topic this year.

County officials have been receiving a lot of calls about insurance premiums, according to County Administrator Chappell Hurst.

“There's been a lot of them in the last few weeks, particularly in the upper portion of Pickens County,” Hurst told council Tuesday evening.

He said appears insurance companies have changed the way they determine how far a house is from a fire station.

The technology is more precise in determining whether your home is within five miles of a fire station, which impacts ISO ratings and insurance rates.

“If you exceed the five miles, they either charge you as a 10, or if you're within the five miles, as a 9,” Hurst said.

Hurst says the county has applied for a new ISO rating for certain areas.

“These areas that are within five miles of a station, but more than a mile and a half from a fire station” Hurst said. “Because of things like this, and the increase in premiums, we have applied for an 8 (rating) for all those areas that are 9. We started with Holly Springs.”

He cited a little-known section of the ISO regulations.

“If you can guarantee and will certify, that you have 4,000 gallons or more of water that will delivered to a fire initially, if you can document that and prove it, then they will give you, where you were a 9, an 8 rating,” Hurst said. “That is something we can do in all areas of Pickens County.”

“How much of a savings is that?” Council Chairman G. Neil Smith asked.

“That's about 20 percent,” Hurst said. “If we can get to a 7, that would be a real good deal.”

The county has secured property for the Rocky Bottom Fire Station.

Hurst said permitting has begun for the site, which is roughly three-quarters of an acre.

The county has already purchased a truck for that station, Hurst said.

That truck is currently at the Holly Springs Fire Station.

Hurst said he hoped to have more information about the Rocky Bottom Station before 2013-2014 budget preparations begin.