Press Release:  December 16, 2016

Spring Creek Fire Department Receives Much Improved ISO Rating.

Spring Creek Volunteer Fire Department recently received an improved Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating from the Insurance Services Office (ISO). The new rating, which will become effective on January 1st, 2017, is a 4/10which is significantly better than the previous 8/9. This rating should save homeowners who live within five road miles of the Spring Creek Fire Department’s station a significant amount of money on their homeowners insurance each year.

ISO is one of the country’s leading sources of information about property and casualty insurance risk. Through the PPC program, ISO evaluates fire protection efforts in communities throughout the United States based on three areas: receiving and handling alarms, fire department personnel and equipment, and water supply. ISO analyzes the relevant data and then assigns a PPC in the form of a grading from 1 to 10, with Class 1 representing superior fire protection. A community’s investment in fire mitigation is a proven and reliable predictor of future fire losses. Therefore, many insurance companies use this information to help establish fair premiums for fire insurance.

The PPC rating Spring Creek Fire Department received is based on a tanker shuttle in addition to the traditional water system. The Class 4 rating is for structures within 5 road miles of our station and Automatic Aid fire stations. (Example) If you live within our jurisdiction and you are greater than 5 miles from our station you could still qualify for a Class 4 rating if you’re within five road miles from one of our Automatic aid stations.Properties beyond 5 road miles will still be rated as a class 10 but may also qualify for a decrease in premiums due to the ability of our department’s water delivery by tanker shuttle capabilities. The Class 10 rating represents a longer fire response that does not meet the minimum requirements for recognized fire protection outside of 7 road miles. We are the only department in the county that has reached out and went with the water haul survey in order to better serve our community. This eliminates having to live within 1000ft of a fire hydrant. This rate change will help a lot more individuals within our coverage area save on homeowner insurance.

Class 10W is property-specific. Not all properties in the 5-to-7-mile area around the responding fire station will qualify. The difference between Class 10 and 10W is that the 10W-graded risk or property is within 1,000 feet of a creditable water supply. Water supplies may include fire protection systems using hauled water when those systems meet our minimum criteria for mobile water supplies in the non-hydrant areas. 10W gives credit to those risks and is reflective of the potential for reduced property insurance premiums

The exact amount or percent that an individual will save is hard to predict because insurance companies consider many factors when calculating insurance premiums. Some of those factors include age of the structure, construction material, and loss history in a particular area. A homeowner can contact their insurance provider in order to find out what savings they might achieve.

“This rating is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the volunteers at Spring Creek Fire Department.” Less than 14.7% of all Alabama Fire Departments and only 14.3% of U.S. fire departments have achieved a PPC 4 or better. The rating that we were able to get could not have been accomplished without the hard work and dedication of the Cherokee County Emergency Communications District, the Northeast Alabama Water District, Cave Spring Water, and the support of the community and local government.

As Chief of Spring Creek Fire Department I would like to encourage the community to continue to support the fire department by donating a small portion of their savings back to the department for the continued improvement of the fire and rescue services provided by the department.As some of you may not know we purchased the property on the corner at Johns Crossroads. The sooner we are able to build a building at that location the further our Class 4 rating will reach out into the community. Please keep in mind we are solely working on a Volunteer Basis so any donations are appreciated.

Thanks and everyone have a Merry Christmas!

Chief: Jamey Walker

Cell: (256)-300-0315

Asst. Chief: Jason Hunter

Cell: (256)-557-4873