HUTCHINSON, Kan — Fire Chief Steven Beer announced during a news conference Tuesday that the fire rating classification for the city of Hutchinson is changing from a Class Three to a Class One and that Fire District 2 is going from a Class Six to a Class Four.

Classes are scored on a scale of one to 10, one being the best while 10 is the worst.

Currently, there are only six Class One cities in the state of Kansas and only 329 nationwide out of 47,500 fire departments.

He says with being a Class One city, it’s good news for homeowners and businesses when it comes to insurance:

 

Beer states that the Insurance Service Office Public Protection Classification program provides important up-to-date information about municipal fire protection services in each community.

He says there are four things they look at when coming up with a communities classification –  Emergency Communications, the Fire Department itself, the Water Supply and the Community Risk Reduction.

So what investment did the department make to get to this point? Chief Beer explains:

 

He says the city’s investment in infrastructure is also a factor and is helping them when fighting fires in the city:

 

Chief Beer believes this change in classification will help the city attract new business. However, the change in classification will not officially take effect until May 1, so everyone will have to wait to see any savings on insurance for homes or businesses after that date.