County will assist Wyatt Fire Department

Friday, February 23, 2007

CHARLESTON -- Mississippi County will assist the Wyatt Fire Department with communication equipment to save their ISO rating.

Mississippi County commissioners agreed during their regular meeting Thursday to purchase pagers for the Wyatt Fire Department as requested by Richard Conn, chief of the Wyatt Fire Department.

Conn said the city of Wyatt was recently inspected for a new ISO rating.

The Insurance Services Office evaluates and rates the fire protection provided by communities. The ISO Public Protection Classification program grades a community's fire protection on a scale of 1-10, based on ISO's Fire Suppression Rating Schedule with 1 being the best protection and 10 being the worst.

If changes are not made within the one-year grace period, Wyatt's ISO will drop from 8 to 10.

An ISO rating of 10 will result in existing fire insurance rates doubling or even being canceled, according to Conn, while new fire insurance policies will not even been offered in the area.

"We've got some serious upgrades we've got to do," he said.

Conn said the primary reason for the rating drop is communications. "What they want is a direct connection with 911," he said.

Presently Wyatt's fire calls are transferred by 911 dispatchers in Charleston to the Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department then contacts the Wyatt Fire Department by phone.

In order to keep the rating from dropping, the department needs to put into place a system for 911 dispatchers to dispatch the department's calls directly to the department via pagers, according to Conn. The department has 14 members and will need 14 pagers.

The volunteer fire department does not have a tax base, however, to fund equipment purchases. "It's a strain on a little fire department," Conn said. "It's almost overwhelming for a little town."

Conn asked if the county or the county's E-911 fund could purchase the pagers, retain ownership of the equipment, and lease it to Wyatt for $1 per year.

He said the department would maintain and be responsible for the pagers. "If we lose one, we'll replace it," Conn said.

The department also needs another fire truck, according to Conn. The current fire truck is a '73 model that now needs a $4,000 pump test.

Conn noted the Wyatt Fire Department is the only fire department that volunteers to responds to the port facilities and the spillway.

County commissioners said they think this purchase does qualify for the use of 911 funding.

Conn said he has already received two bids for the pagers but needs one more.

Blumenberg said he thinks Anniston and Bertrand will soon approach the county with similar requests as their volunteer fire departments are probably in the same situation.

"They don't have a tax base either," Conn said.

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