Recent improvements could result in lower insurance risk ratings for residents and business owners in Walker County Emergency Services District #2
A recent evaluation of the New Waverly Fire Department resulted in an improved fire insurance rating in the City of New Waverly and has the potential to significantly lower fire insurance costs for areas outside the City that are located within 5 miles of a fire station.
Fires can be the source of expensive insurance claims, so insurers look carefully at the fire preparedness of a community when they are determining rates for homeowners in the area. Carriers do this using ISO ratings, which rate factors like water supply and the presence of local fire departments. An ISO fire rating is a score provided to fire departments and insurance companies by the Insurance Services Office (ISO). The score reflects how prepared a community and area is for fires. While it mainly focuses on the local fire departments and water supply, there are other factors that contribute to an area’s score. An ISO score has the power to affect the insurance premium of every homeowner and business in the area and may even cause an insurer to deny you coverage in some circumstances. The ISO rating is on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the best and 10 representing that a property has no recognized fire protection.
Supported by Walker County Emergency Services District #2, the New Waverly Fire Department has been working to improve its ability to respond to fires throughout the southern portions of Walker County that lie within the boundaries of ESD #2. The NWFD had previously been rated 4 in areas within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant and 8 for residents that live within 5 miles of a fire station. A recent evaluation by the ISO has resulted in a rating of 3 for areas with hydrants and 4 for the rest of the district, which could translate into significant savings for district residents.
The NWFD was able to achieve the lower rating in areas without hydrants by acquiring additional tanker trucks over the past few years. Although they recognized the need for an additional tanker in the Phelps Community, a new unit would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and would take several years to acquire. The Department searched across the country and found a suitable used apparatus for 1/10th of the cost of a new unit.
The hiring of additional Firefighters has also improved the insurance ratings as well as the District’s adoption of a Fire Code. The ESD has partnered with the City of New Waverly to insure a uniform set of safety standards across the area as the population continues to grow.
New Waverly 