By By Chris Allen Baker/staff writer
Jan. 15, 2002
Residents of the Shucktown community could see their fire insurance rates fall in March if a move to include them in the Bailey Fire Protection Grading District is approved.
Lauderdale County supervisors have scheduled a hearing on the issue for 9:45 a.m. Feb. 4. A copy of a petition from Shucktown residents in support of the issue is on file with the county.
Hitt said insurance rates could fall as much as 40 percent to 50 percent.
Hitt, who represents District 3 and Shucktown, said supervisors have been working for years to place all Lauderdale County residents in a fire protection district. Shucktown is not in a district.
The closest departments to Shucktown are the Bailey Volunteer Fire Department and the Martin Volunteer Fire Department. Both, Hitt said, were responding to the Shucktown community.
When the county started looking into the Shucktown issue, Hitt said, supervisors realized the area probably didn't have enough potential volunteer firefighters to provide the response needed for a Class 8 fire rating.
Fire districts are rated by the state on a scale of 1 through 10. The lower the number, the better the protection and, therefore, the lower the cost of fire insurance for residents.
Class 8 is the best rating available in areas outside of an incorporated city.
Originally, Shucktown residents approached county supervisors and requested help for buying a fire truck. They told supervisors that they would take care of building a fire station.
But with a lack of enough volunteer firefighters to lower the fire rating, county fire coordinator Clarence Butler asked the Bailey district if it would take Shucktown into their area.
After discussing the idea, Bailey agreed.
Now, Shucktown is expected to formally become part of the Bailey district in two months. The community has its own fire station on Highway 495, a new truck and people to staff it.