RISON - Homeowners within the service area of the Pansy Volunteer Fire Department could see a decrease in their insurance premiums after the department was a awarded a Class 5 rating by the Insurance Services Office (ISO).
Pansy Fire Chief Jerry Pennington announced the new ISO rating this week. He said it will officially go into effect on April 1, 2023.
A fire department's ISO rating is correlated to the amount insurance companies charge customers within a fire department's service area. A department's service area any address that is within 5 road miles of the fire station.
The lower a fire department's ISO rating, the lower the insurance premiums are for homeowners within that department's service area. Pennington said Pansy's class rating fell from 9, which is the highest rating for a community with a fire department, to 5, giving it one of the lowest ratings in the county.
While some insurance companies may automatically apply the lower rating, Pennington encouraged homeowners within the Pansy Fire Department's service area to contact their insurance provider directly to make sure the lower classification rating is applied.
Pennington said this accomplishment took several years of training and adding equipment to get the lower rating. The ISO does in-person inspections of fire departments to document the amount of training firefighters receive as well as what type of equipment the department has as well as what kind of water delivery systems are available such as fire hydrants, tanker trucks, etc.
Pennington also announced that, effective Jan. 1, the Pansy fire dues are increasing from $3 to $5 due to rising operating expenses. The Woodlawn Fire Department raised its monthly (continued from page 1) County east of Derrieusseaux Creek and Big Creek/Saline River is in the new District 93, which is represented by Republican Mike Holcomb of Jefferson County. Holcomb previously represented much of that same area as the District 10 representative during his previous term.
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