Naples fire suppression gets top rating, could lead to lower insurance rates

Jan. 23--Naples residents could begin to see lower premiums on their property insurance after risk analysts gave the city top marks for its fire suppression systems.

The study released Tuesday by the New Jersey-based Insurance Services Office rates the city's fire and rescue services as Class 1 -- the highest possible score out of 10 classes.

It's an increase from Class 2 in 2013, when Naples was last studied by the risk-analysis company. The ratings on fire suppression are used by major insurance providers across the company to set premiums for commercial and residential property insurance.

The new rating, which takes effect April 1, could slightly reduce premiums for existing Naples ratepayers, Fire Chief Pete DiMaria said, and bring costs down even more for future property owners.

"New businesses, new customers -- people getting insurance for the first time -- will see an effect," said DiMaria, who was hired as fire chief in 2016.

Among the more than 46,000 communities studied by ISO in 2017, Naples was one of 241 to receive a Class 1 rating, according to the ISO report. The median rating for communities is a Class 3.

City Manager Bill Moss described the high mark as a significant achievement.

"I cannot express how proud I am of this accomplishment, so I won't even try," Moss wrote in an email to the Naples City Council on Tuesday.

The ISO report shows top marks for Naples emergency communications systems and water supply. Those systems improved after the city installed more than 100 new fire hydrants and agreed in October 2016 to begin cooperating with other local fire agencies in closest-unit response, DiMaria said.

"I'm proud right now of my department and the changes that we've made over the past couple of years," he said. "We're certainly going in the right direction."

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