Homeowners on Central Whidbey could see a slight decrease in insurance premiums due to an improved fire protection rating.

Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue received better ratings within the Town of Coupeville and in unincorporated areas of Island County served by the fire district, according to a recent evaluation by the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau.

Central Whidbey Fire’s protection class ratings improved from 5 to 4 in town and from 7 to 6 in unincorporated areas for properties with four miles of a fire station and 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant. Properties beyond 1,000 feet  of a fire hydrant but within four miles of a CWFR station, improved from 8 to 7.

The best protection class rating a fire department can receive is a 1. A score of 10 means no fire protection.

Ratings are determined through evaluating four elements with the heaviest emphasis placed on fire department (staffing, number of apparatus, pumping capacity, etc.) and water supply, according to CWFR chief Ed Hartin. The other factors are emergency communications and fire safety.

“It would be a reasonable statement to say as your protection class goes down, the premium you pay for fire insurance goes down,” Hartin said, “but it’s not a linear relationship.

“The other element with that is, insurance companies use this data to make decisions about premiums. But they’re not obligated to, and they all may use it slightly differently.

“My advice to consumers is, ‘Our protection class has gone down. Communicate with your insurance provider. If you don’t see a benefit then maybe you should ask around.’”

The evaluation by the WSRB took place during a visit over a couple days in December, Hartin said. “Protection class is not a measure of how good is your fire department and how effective is your fire department. It’s kind of based on historical data on what things correlate with lower fire loss in the community.”