ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR) has been reclassified by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) to a Class 3/10. The new ISO classification means that all properties within 5 miles of an ACFR operated fire station, regardless of the location of the closest fire hydrant, will be classified as an ISO Class 3 beginning October 1, 2015.
The resulting ISO classification is a key factor for many insurance companies when they consider where they will write an insurance policy and for calculating insurance premiums. This improvement in the ISO Classification may result in annual homeowners insurance premiums being reduced (if the homeowners insurance carrier uses the ISO classification), as well as an increase in the number of insurance companies who are willing to write policies in areas with improved ISO class ratings.
This new classification is the result of the ACFR’s redeployment of water tankers throughout the County and has allowed ACFR to be recognized as an organization that can deliver a sustained water supply independent of a domestic water system with hydrants. ACFR research has shown that there are over 6,500 improved parcels that are currently within 5 miles to one of the County operated fire stations, but not within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant. These are the property owners who were formerly classified as a Class 3x (formerly Class 9) that will now be classified as an ISO Class 3.
Impacted property owners in the unincorporated portions of the County as well as those residents in Waldo, Hawthorne, and Archer should contact their insurance agents to see if this new ISO classification will benefit them.
View/download detailed maps of areas affected by the ISO classification (PDF).
View/download the Public Protection Classification Summary Report (PDF).
For more information, contact Alachua County Fire Chief Bill Northcutt at 352-384-3130.