Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon ISO fire rating goes down

A federal report came in on May 19 indicating that the ISO property/fire insurance rating for Gurdon has gone down from a "7" to a "5."

Fire Chief Jake McBride, who has been chief here over the Gurdon Volunteer Fire Department for about 15 years, said getting the rating to go down, through meeting federal fire fighting training and equipment guidelines, has been one of his major goals.

"I could have applied many times, but as the mayor says, it is better to have your ducks in a row," McBride said.

"This is the first time I have ever applied for the ISO reduction. I would like to thank my assistant chief, Robert Burns, and also my 14 volunteer firefighters for working hard to make this possible."

McBride said the fire insurance rating change will be reported to property insurance companies and Gurdon homeowners can expect a decrease in their annual fire insurance premiums of 10 to 15 percent, in most cases.

"I would say the decrease will be at least between $50 and $150 saved per year by our property owners in Gurdon," he said.

According to McBride, the ISO 5 will officially come into effect on July 1.

Tambra Childres, recorder and treasurer, said she checked with several property insurance companies to see what the savings might be and could find no savings less than 8 percent, nor more than 17 percent.

"I would say Jake and I agree that this savings will be between 10 and 15 percent for most households," Childres said.

McBride said improvements counting toward the insurance rating reduction included: making sure water supplies were adequate, putting the volunteers through extensive fire fighting training, and accumulating three pumpers and one rescue vehicle.

The improved rating of "5" is the same ISO rating as Arkadelphia.