November 10, 2011
By: Carrie Van Brunt-Wiley
Officials with the City of Akron, Ohio, recently announced that the city had been given an improved fire safety rating, which could help lower residents' home insurance premiums.
The city said that a review of its fire department by the Insurance Services Office earned Akron a Class 2 rating - an improvement from the previous Class 3 score.
ISO's rankings, which measure water supply, dispatching, and fire department resources, are used by insurers to help determine insurance rates. There are just 61 Class 1 communities nationwide, and fewer than 600 with a Class 2 score.
"This is a great boost for the City of Akron and its fire department," said Mayor Don Plusquellic. "While the improved rating status will not trigger an automatic rollback in fire insurance premiums, we are optimistic that this rating will help in the future when the policies are reviewed."
ISO says that the most common fire protection rating nationwide is 9. That class accounts for roughly 28 percent of the more than 48,000 communities rated by the company.
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