Property owners to benefit from safety efforts

Dec. 27--Volunteer fire departments in the county have made improvements and saved some money for property owners in the process.

Some Cleveland County volunteer fire departments have maintained and others have improved their insurance ratings in their most recent review by the Office of the State Fire Marshal this year. This improvement means a $15 a month savings for county residents, said Cleveland County Emergency Management Director Perry Davis.

"Each department deserves to be recognized for its efforts. They worked hard for several years up to this inspection," Davis said.

Each department in 11 sections of the county receive a rating every five years from the state. This rating determines the insurance premiums in an area for personal and business properties. The highest insurance class each department can rate anywhere on a scale from 1e to 9e, with 1e being the best.

Shelby Fire and Rescue just received a 2e rating this year, and Kings Mountain is a 4e.

All of the county departments are 6e or less now, Davis said. This is the best for residential areas, anything lower benefits businesses.

"This will benefit the community and businesses now," Davis said.

This accreditation evaluated each department for their response capabilities, their facilities and the ability for the fire trucks to haul water to areas that may not have access to fire hydrants.

After the volunteer departments' 2014 accreditation, Emergency Management developed a strategic plan in 2016 to give guidance on what could be improved upon. One of the areas that was focused on was hiring part-time firefighters for some of the volunteer departments.

Accredited agency status is for a five-year period when another inspection will be performed at the agencies.

"If you look at other counties in the state, Cleveland County is on par with many of them," Davis said.

Joyce Orlando can be reached at 704-669-3341 or find her on Twitter @Star_J_Orlando.

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