Nampa receives high fire rating
Public safety: After opening new station, city moves up in protection
By Lane Bettencourt
Idaho Press-Tribune
NAMPA -- A recent state evaluation placed Nampa in the second-best category available for fire protection, one of only two cities in Idaho to achieve that status.
Fire Chief Ron Anderson said the new classification may mean lower property insurance rates for Nampa residents.
Every seven years, each city in the state is graded on its firefighting capability by the Idaho Survey and Rating Bureau, a non-profit corporation funded by insurance companies.
The bureau uses a 1-to-10 system for its ratings, with one being the best rating and 10 the worst. Effective Dec. 1, Nampa will have a 2 rating, an improvement from its current rating of 3.
In Idaho, only Lewiston also has a 2 rating. No jurisdiction has a 1.
"This is a piece of information most insurance companies need to determine what price their insurance should be," Al Frieze, general manager of the Idaho Survey and Rating Bureau, said.
But Frieze added that an improved rating is not a guarantee of reduced rates because many factors determine the cost of a specific property's insurance policy.
The bureau looks at several criteria in assigning its classification. These include firefighter training, maintenance of equipment, availability of water and the way alarms are handled.
Anderson said Nampa's improvement can be traced to events of late last year, when a fourth fire station opened near Karcher Mall, and the department added nine new firefighter/paramedics.
Caldwell rating
The city of Caldwell has had a 3 fire protection rating since May 2003. Before that, the city had a 4 rating. Caldwell opened its second fire station in December 2002.
