East Rockingham property owners can look forward to a little bit of help with the cost of property insurance because of improvements made by the East Rockingham Fire Department.

The fire department’s rating improved from a 6/9s to a 5/9s. The ratings affect the amount property owners in the fire district are charged to insure their properties.

It’s been 20 years since the last inspection by the rating agency, Fire Chief Mitchell Watson Jr. said.

“The state conducted a thorough inspection of our records and equipment, and came back with a positive result,” Watson said. “We have made tremendous improvements to our program since the last inspection, replacing two trucks, adding two more trucks to our fleet and increasing our communication capabilities by equipping everyone in our department with hand-held radios.”

State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin congratulated the department in a release.

“The citizens in the East Rockingham Fire District should rest easy knowing they have a fine group of firefighters protecting them and their property in case of an emergency,” Goodwin said.

While Watson has been the fire chief for about two years, he said the groundwork for the upgrade in insurance rating was laid during the tenure of Fire Chief Kenny Caulder, who served for about 20 years and left the department in 2008.

“Kenny was always improving our equipment and training, and he more or less paved the way for where we are today,” Watson said.

He also said that in the future, the department would like to earn a rating of 4, which Watson believes is the best the department can hope for with the infrastructure it has.

“That would be a challenge, but it’s a reachable goal,” Watson said. “This department is dedicated to saving our homeowners as much money as possible, but at the same time bringing them the very best in fire fighting technology. We also try to save them as much money as we can by seeking out grant-funding for our equipment and other upgrades.”

State Farm Insurance Agent David Harling said that while homeowners can expect some savings, they would need to visit their insurance agent to determine how much they can save.

“There are so many variables involved that it’s difficult to determine what the savings are for an individual without visiting their insurance agent,” Harling said. “Different families have different layers of discounts, whether it be having your auto insurance through the company, having a burglar alarm or a number of other things.”

The new rating kicks in Aug. 1.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.