KFD improvements will pay off

Improvements by the Kalispell Fire Department not only make the community safer; they can also pay off in savings to insurance-paying homeowners and businesses.

KFD boosted its rating with Insurance Services Office Inc., which rates communities on their fire protection services using a 1-10 scale, with 10 meaning there's no protection. Insurance companies are said to reduce their rates to homeowners in fire districts with better ratings.

Kalispell has moved from a 5 to a 3, effective Jan. 1.

It was in 1999 that then-fire chief Ted Waggener and his assistant Orland Leland began lobbying for changes to improve the city's rating. They knew it wouldn't come cheap and it didn't.

The fire department and City Council worked through the years to invest in the department. As a result, Kalispell has a second fire station on the north side of town, more equipment and firefighters, better training facilities and improved dispatch - all things that were recommended seven years ago.

Other improvements include adding fire hydrants, upgrading water lines, and stepping up fire-prevention inspections and education.

Now, according to chief Randy Brodehl, firefighters can reach at least 90 percent of the city in five minutes or less. That's critical because during the first eight to 10 minutes, a fire doubles in size every minute.

Just about everything connected to fire services is critical, as residents in a Meridian Road apartment building learned last month when firefighters quickly snuffed out a fire in one unit that could easily have spread to more.

Fire department leaders and City Council members from the past deserve credit for planning ahead on improvements. Current leaders deserve credit for having the courage to implement changes.

Everyone benefits when it works that way.