COLUMBIA, Miss. (WDAM) – There’s good news for many residents and business in the City of Columbia.
The city earned a new, public fire protection classification from the state of Mississippi, That could mean lower insurance rates especially for business owners.
Fire protection classifications are like golf scores, the lower the number, the better.
“The lower the classification, the better rates the citizens can see,” Columbia Fire Department Chief Lyle Berard said.
And the City of Columbia earned a nice, low score from the Mississippi State rating Bureau, Berard said.
That agency reduced the city’s public fire protection rating from Class Five to a Class Four.
The ratings are based on a review done by the agency of not only a city’s fire department, but other city services as well.
“They’ll come in every five years and review how the department is functioning and give you a classification,” Berard said. “They also look at other departments within the city, water department, dispatch, code enforcement and other agencies like that. “
Berard said additional training opportunities was a large factor in earning the better, lower grade.
“I think the big thing was the addition of a training facility that we have here and being able to document training hours at that facility,” Berard said. “Being able to do live-fire burns, also improvements to our water system within the city.
“We’ve added large-diameter hoses to the trucks and many other equipment improvements, that we’ve been able to do: I-pads in the trucks, mapping systems of the hydrants, being able to access that while enroute to a call.”
Dropping from Class Five to Class Four could be especially good for business owners.
“Normally, between classes one and six are very similar on residential rates, but commercial rates get a lot better,” Shelter Insurance agent Greg Robbins said. “And, so, hopefully, it will help consumers to have more purchase power, because the businesses are not having to pay as much.”
Taking steady steps forward has become the norm for Columbia’s fire department recently.
Ten years ago, the City of Columbia held a Class Six fire protection rating. Five years ago, that rating improved to Class Five.
Five years later, a better-trained, better-equipped department earned another promotion by earning a lower rating.
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