When it comes to fire protection in Sechelt, the district’s grades are good. Sechelt Fire Chief Trevor Pike shared the results of a Fire Underwriters Survey following their release to the department Aug. 2. “We are performing very well,” Pike told Coast Reporter.
The underwriters gave two grades to Sechelt, based on a scale of one to 10, with one being the highest. The district received a grade of three for Public Fire Protection Classification, an improvement over 2008’s grade of four, which is the last time a survey was conducted. Its dwelling protection grade remained the same at 3A/3B, the highest score possible for a volunteer fire department. The intent of the survey is to establish the community’s ability to “prevent and control major fires.”
“They did an analysis of what the community’s needs are and compared that to what the fire departments could provide, and based on the improvements since our last surveys, that’s how they came up with the grade,” explained Pike. Analysis focuses on, among other things, training, facilities, equipment, water supply, management and budgeting.
Pike said the Sechelt Fire Department and the Sunshine Coast Regional District approached the Fire Underwriters Survey in 2017 to conduct a review of the Coast’s fire services, since at least 10 years had lapsed since the previous surveys. Surveys are not mandatory, he said.
The Fire Underwriters Survey is a national organization that provides data to municipalities and insurers and also publishes the Canadian Fire Insurance Grading Index, which insurers consult when establishing rates. According to the report, the grades are “also used by underwriters to determine the amount of risk they are willing to assume in a given community or section of a community.”
Westland Insurance, which operates out of Sechelt, declined to comment on whether the grades could lead to lower premiums in the district. Steve Kee, communications director for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said improvements “can have an impact on premiums, but only the fire portion of the premium,” and that rate prices are based on a number of factors.
The SCRD does not yet have its assessments but are expecting them in the fall, at which point they will be brought to the board.
