Monday, June 15, 2015

Department achieves improved inspection rating

      North Carolina Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal Wayne Goodwin announced June 4, 2015, that the Central Alexander Fire Department and Taylorsville Fire District have completed routine inspections and received a 6/9E rating (rural areas of the district) and a 5 rating (in town), effective Tuesday, September 1, 2015. Rated on a scale of 1-10, the lower numbers are a better rating.
     The inspections, conducted by the officials with the Department of Insurance Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM), are required on a regular basis as part of the North Carolina Response Rating System (NCRRS). Among other things, the routine inspections look for proper staffing levels, sufficient equipment, proper maintenance of equipment, communication capabilities, and availability of a water source.
     The NCRRS rating system ranges from one (highest) to 10 (not recognized as a certified fire department by the state), with most rural departments falling into the 9S category. While higher ratings do not necessarily indicate poor service, a higher rating does suggest that a department is overall better equipped to respond to fires in its district. Lower numerical ratings can also significantly lower homeowners insurance rates in that fire district.
    While the Central Alexander Fire Dept. (rural) rating will remain the same, a Class 6, the in-Town (municipal area) rating will improve to Class 5 for businesses and remain Class 6 for homeowners (Class 6 is the best number available for homes), said Fire Chief Matt Jordan.
    "Maintaining the 6/9 and improving to a 5 are great accomplishments for the Taylorsville Fire Department," said Alexander County Fire Marshal Russell Greene.
    "Residents and business will continue to receive the same break in home owners and business insurance that they were receiving before," said Jordan. "Also, the Town of Taylorsville now has the lowest [best] rating in the county."
    "A lot of work went into this," Jordan commented. "We were a Class 6 before, and to maintain that and lower it for the Town speaks of the hard work that the officers and members did to reach this. We also added some equipment and spent hours training with pump operations and water shuttles to maintain the fire flows that were needed to accomplish this number."
    "I just want to thank all of our officers and members who made this possible. We have a dedicated group of men and women who put a lot of time and work into this. They deserve a pat on the back for a job well done. I think the rating system is a chance for the fire department to give back the community it serves with a break in homeowners and business insurance," Chief Jordan related.
    "I'd like to congratulate Chief Jordan for his department's performance and for the hard work of all the department members," said Commissioner Goodwin. "The citizens in the Central Alexander and Taylorsville Fire Districts should rest easy knowing they have a fine group of firefighters protecting them and their property in case of emergency."

Source of article "The Taylorsville Times" June 10, 2015 edition (Page 4 A)


Friday, June 5, 2015

Department receives new ISO ratings

Effective September 1, 2015 Central Alexander Fire Department ISO rating will see some changes. Based on the offical letter from the state, the ISO rating within the city limits will be lowered from a 6 to a 5. The ISO rating outside the city limit will remain at the current rating of 6. What this means for residence & business owners is they will be able to continue the insurance breaks they have been receiving based on this rating. This also means that the Town of Taylorsville has the lowest ISO rating in the entire county.