Evergreen achieves insurance milestone

Evergreen Fire Rescue recently was notified of a improvement in its classification by the national Insurance Services Office. 

Evergreen Fire Rescue previously was rated by the national insurance organization at 5/8B on a scale of 1-10, with Class 1 being the highest. 

Now the department has jumped up to a Class 3 rating, putting it in the top 5 percent nationally. Only three other departments statewide, including Kalispell, are Class 3, according to Evergreen Chief Craig Williams said. 

The Insurance Services Office usually does fire-department evaluations every 10 years, Williams said. 

The last time the organization visited Evergreen was in 1999, so “we were due,” Williams said.  

A Class 1 rating represents superior property fire protection, while Class 10 represents a fire suppression program that does not meet minimum requirements for an evaluation. 

“I’m very pleased, very excited,” Williams said. “There should definitely be a reduction in insurance rates that people are paying. We’re very excited. It’s neat to have that.” 

The higher rating for Evergreen Fire Rescue — which takes effect Nov. 1 — may lead to lower insurance policy rates for some business and property owners in Evergreen. Williams explained that the Insurance Services Office works with underwriters of all national insurance companies. 

Farmers Insurance agent Gary Barker, whose office is in Evergreen, said that reductions in insurance premiums can range from no reduction up to 10 percent, depending on different variables. Barker said the reductions vary by insurance company because some companies lump classes 1-5 in one category. 

“If they’re a company that lumps [the classes] together, then going from a 5 to a 3 won’t make any difference,” Barker said. “Mobile homes seem to be the majority in that section.”

 Barker explained that the actual protection class should be listed on policy renewal statements.

“If for some reason it still shows a 5, they need to make their insurance company aware of that. Everyone should check on their renewal that Evergreen is in protection class 3,” Barker said.

“Insurance companies want to know that the fire department has the ability to put that fire out quickly. What we’ll really see in the future is a reduction in premiums because of that protection being better. Basically, the better the local fire department is, the lower the premiums will be. 

“We’re pretty proud of the Evergreen Fire Rescue going from a 5 to a 3. That’s a big jump.” 

Williams credited additional training, more personnel, newer equipment and water supply as reasons for the improved insurance rating. 

“There’s about three pages of criteria, everything from training to manpower on shift, to response to dispatch times, how quickly we get out of the station, our equipment, the equipment that’s on the trucks, and water supply,” Williams said.  

“It speaks to the Evergreen community as a whole. They’ve been very supportive of this fire department and supported us financially whenever we’ve had to reach out to them. It’s a community effort.” 

Williams also lauded the volunteer members of the fire department. Evergreen Fire Rescue is made up of about 50 percent paid employees and 50 percent volunteers. Volunteers receive just as much training as paid employees. 

Those willing to invest in private water systems, such as Glacier Ranch, also contributed to the higher rating. 

“A number of private entities are putting in private water systems, and we didn’t have that in the 1990s,” Williams said. 

Brittany Brevik can be reached by email at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com or by calling 758-4459.