October 31, 2011
By: Carrie Van Brunt-Wiley
Fire officials in Midland, Texas, say they expect the city to receive an improved fire insurance rating from the Insurance Services Offices, which should lead to a drop in home insurance rates.
Communities are rated from one to 10 - with 10 being the worst - based on ISO's evaluation of the fire department. City experts told the Midland Reporter-Telegram they expect the final results to indicate the city improved from a 3 to a 2 this year.
Officials told the news source some of the improvement is due to a new compressed-air system included on the city's new fire engine, which is 70 percent more efficient in dousing flames and reduces the severity of home insurance claims.
"There is less water damage from extinguishing the fire, less damage to the structure because it decreases the amount of time the fire is active and is safer for our firefighters because they are exposed to dangerous environments for a shorter amount of time," Chief Fritz Niggeler told the paper.
The change could result in an 8 percent drop in home insurance rates along with a 2 percent drop in rates for businesses.
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