By Mark Bellinger
BUFFALO VALLEY, Tenn. - The insurance industry gives Putnam County its worst fire protection rating. Some portions of the county have received an ISO score of 10.
ISO stands for the Insurance Service Organization.
The Fire Chief in Putnam County said in the eyes of the insurance industry parts of his county have no fire protection at all, and homeowners are paying the price.
The Hurricane Hollow Apple Orchard is a popular stop in the western part of the county. A home burned to the ground next door just a couple of weeks ago.
"It was kind of scary watching it. Being right there. I thought we had a better response than what happened," Orchard owner Tammy League said.
This week, county residents learned they had one of the worst fire ratings the insurance industry can deliver.
The ISO score of 10 does not sit well with Putnam County Fire Chief Tammy League.
"Anything being above a nine is considered like not even having a fire department," Chief Daryl Blair said.
Blair said the average response time of more than 18 minutes is unacceptable. He wants to upgrade the equipment in half of the county's fire stations.
Most of them are in rural areas and they're manned by volunteers. Blair said the volunteers are great people, but they are just volunteers.
Chief Blair would like five full-time people in his department, because he said you just cannot rely on volunteers showing up every time there's a fire.
Putnam County Executive Kim Blaylock gave commissioners a proposal last week. She told them if they want to make any impact on the insurance rating they'd have to impose a 5 cent property tax increase.
Her proposal does not include adding full time employees.
Other upgrades to equipment and buildings will still cost money. County commissioners are reluctant to raise taxes, but it might be their only option.
"It can cost you one way or another, but I'm not sure which approach we need to take right now," Commissioner Kim Bradford said.
One proposal breaks the county into fire districts, but that could mean higher taxes. Residents may end up paying more anyway, because a bad fire protection rating means higher insurance premiums.
Commissioner Bradford said one man told her his homeowners insurance premiums nearly tripled in cost.
League said something needs to be done, because her house is not that far from the home that burned to the ground in Buffalo Valley.
"You know my house is just right above them. It's just right there. It's scary," League added.
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