SEQUIM — The recent acquisition of a ladder truck by Clallam County Fire District No. 3 will allow the district to maintain its fire insurance rating, a calculation that affects how much residents pay to insure homes against fire damage.
“It’ll keep it from going up,” Fire Chief Steve Vogel said.
“If we did not buy the ladder truck — we have so many buildings over a certain square footage and over a certain height, it was only a matter of time until they would’ve raised it.”
“They” is the Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau, which ranks fire district preparedness using factors such as water supplies, personnel and training levels.
The rankings are from one to 10.
A lower number means better preparedness and, usually, lower insurance rates — and the differences can be substantial.
Fire District rated a five
Fire District No. 3 is rated a five within the city of Sequim and seven for county dwellings within five miles of a fire station.
More distant locations may be rated at eight, nine or 10, Vogel said.
“Water supply is the biggest thing,” he said.
“The biggest issue is we don’t have enough hydrants in the area.”
The district improved its county rating from 8a to seven at the beginning of this year after purchasing a 3,700-gallon water tanker truck.
The other main factor affecting the district’s fire rating is that building fire inspections did not take place for some time.
That program was restarted about 18 months ago, Vogel said, but it has to be in place for several years before the benefit shows up in the insurance ratings.
If the program continues, more points could come off the district’s rating, especially within the city of Sequim, he said.