Fire district receives new rating

Last modified: Friday, February 8, 2008 10:13 PM CST

Fire district receives new rating

By ELIZABETH HOCHSTEDLER mailto:elizabeth.hochstedler@lee.net.

LAKE HALLIE — Some village of Lake Hallie residents may smile after April, when they have to write their checks for property insurance.

The Chippewa Fire District has received a new ISO rating, effective April 1, which means some may see decreased insurance rates.

The new rating for the village is a three on a scale of one to 10, one being the best.

The towns of LaFayette, Hallie, Wheaton and Howard, the towns covered by the district, received a rating of six.

Although the ISO rating isn’t used by all insurance companies, it could mean savings for many property owners.

“It should bring down your insurance premiums,” said Pete Lehmann, president of the village of Lake Hallie.

The new ratings are an improvement from the department’s last rating of seven.

However, that rating was completed in 1991, before the existence of the village.

Chippewa Fire District Chief John Neihart said seven was a good rating at the time, considering the lack of equipment the department had.

The ratings are usually completed once every 15-20 years. The ISO sends a letter to the department about 10 days in advance of their visit.

The ISO visited Lake Hallie in September. Neihart said a representative of the company spent three days and one evening evaluating the department.

The company evaluates department communication, the water system and the department overall.

Neihart said ISO looked at personnel, equipment, response time, the amount of water available and several other aspects.

Each aspect is graded, and ISO comes out with a percentage point. The village received a score of 70.11, just sliding them into the third rating class.

Neihart said he’s happy about the score his department received.

“For a volunteer fire department, that’s a very good rating,” he said.

He said the village and the county has been working on improving the fire district in a variety of ways for the last 4-5 years.

The department has purchased new equipment and has been working hard at communication and training.

“The firefighters did an exceptionally good job of holding up their end,” Neihart said.

There are only about 45 departments in the state with a three rating, 12 with a two rating and none with a one rating.

“I guess we have to feel very successful at achieving a level three,” Lehmann said, emphasizing that there’s always room for improvement.

Lehmann has been working on notifying local insurance agents about the change.

Neihart said as some insurance companies use different means of evaluation, some property owners won’t be affected by the new ISO rating.

The only way people can find out is by contacting their insurance agency for premium change information.