Lake Twp. Insurance fire rating improved

Residents of Lake Township may soon benefit from a recent improvement in the township’s insurance fire rating.
The Insurance Services Organization has changed the township’s fire rating from 5/5Y to 4/4Y. This change reflects an improvement the township has achieved in fire protection services.
“This change may lower insurance premiums for both homeowners and renters in the township,” said Lake Township fire chief Bruce Moritz. “This new rating is for the entire township and includes the villages of Millbury and Walbridge.”
Chief Moritz credits township trustees Ken Gilsdorf, Richard Welling, and Jeffery Pettit, as well as his firefighters, for the rating improvement.
“The trustees have worked very hard to see we have the finest equipment to work with and our dedicated firefighters work diligently to stay up on the latest training. These efforts have culminated in a higher level of fire protection for our township’s residents, which in turn, has led to the improvement in our ISO rating,” Chief Moritz said.
Township trustees recently approved the hiring of several new firefighters for the department, which augments its force that is ready to respond to fires, emergency medical runs, and other calls for service.
“You can have the best equipment, but without the manpower, it is all useless. The trustees’ action to hire these new firefighters and the willingness of the firefighters to respond to the calls boosts our ability to better serve our township residents,” Chief Moritz added.
Chief Moritz said the new rating will allow his department to establish a benchmark.
“We can use this new report to improve the services and the rating even more in the future.”
The fire/EMS department has experienced a steady increase in call volume the past several years, he said, with EMS calls now accounting for about three quarters of the total.
ISO's Public Protection Classification system measures and evaluates the effectiveness of fire-mitigation services in communities. The system weighs criteria such as water supply, the drive distance from responding fire stations, emergency communications and others.