ESD 7 gets boost in fire safety ratings

Sept. 20--Better fire department coordination and a new plan to supply water by tanker truck has paid off for Millsap, Greenwood, Cool and Garner's fire protection ratings.

As of last month, Emergency Services District 7 received a Public Protection Classification of 3/10 from the Insurance Services Office, which could help lower some homeowners' insurance rates.

"Parker County ESD 7 began developing a plan over two years ago to improve our level of service with the goal of improving our overall PPC," the ESD said in a news release from Director of Emergency Services Jeff Edwards.

The ESD's three fire departments, Cool-Garner VFD, Greenwood VFD and Millsap VFD, began training together twice a month.

The fire departments also hold a 3-hour drill at a 3-story training drill building built by the ESD at Millsap Fire Station.

"The next step was the addition of on-duty firefighters at each station during the daytime hours," the news release states. "This greatly improved our manpower during the day when most volunteers are at work."

The district also began having each of its fire departments respond to all building fires with an engine and a tanker truck.

Now, including help from adjoining fire departments, all structure fires within the ESD have at least three engines and four tanker trucks responding, according to the ESD.

The emergency services district also had to develop a plan to supply water to areas that have no fire hydrants, a majority of the area that ESD 7 is responsible for.

Though the district does have some fire hydrants in the district, they are primarily used to fill up tanker trucks.

"We were successful in demonstrating the tanker shuttle in our district and we can supply an average of 750 gallons per minute throughout our district with the tankers," ESD 7 wrote. "We also use several additional tankers from outside our district to accomplish this procedure."

"We are pleased to announce that our new PPC rating for our district is a PPC 3/10," ESD 7 stated. "All residents that live within 5 road miles of any of our four-district fire stations will have a PPC rating of 3. If you fall over 5 road miles from a hydrant, which is a very small percentage of our district and mostly undeveloped, your PPC will be a 10. Insurance companies now recognize areas from 5 to 7 miles that have a water supply (tanker shuttle) as a water class 10, so even in the areas over 5 road miles there will be improvements."

Millsap VFD previously had a PPC 4/10. Greenwood VFD previously had a PPC 5/10. Cool-Garner VFD previously had a PPC 8B/10.

Just Millsap and Greenwood had previously been scored with a tanker truck shuttle, according to ESD 7.

An area's PPC scores can impact homeowners' insurance rates, according to the state.

"Although homeowner's insurance rates are driven mainly by your area's claim experience, your community's PPC can also be important," the Texas Department of Insurance states on its website. "Some companies may not use ISO, but for those that do, they assign a rating factor to each classification. If a community's PPC improves, in general, the premiums insurers charge will decrease; if the PPC deteriorates, then premiums will increase. Insurers determine how much each PPC affects premium based on their own experience, so rating factors vary by insurer."

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