There’s more good news for local fire departments.

     The Loyd Star Volunteer Fire Department has improved its fire insurance rating from a 10 to an eight, and the department’s substation in Caseyville has gone from unrated to a rating of 10, said Mark Porter, LSVFD chief.

     Fire departments are classified between a one rating, the highest, and a 10 rating, which is the lowest. The score that is determined from applying the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule is translated into a public protection classification for a community.

     The lower the number, the lower insurance rates are for homeowners and businesses in that particular community.

     Porter said the firefighters have put in a good deal of work recently to help them improve their rating.

     “It was a lot of hard work from us,” said Porter. “We had a few more hydrants put down to get this rating.”

     The LSVFD recently installed three more fire hydrants in their coverage area. That improved their water flow for the department.

     “That’s what did it for us,” said Porter. “They went to a few locations and told us if we installed three more hydrants then we could move up, and we did.”

     Porter said the LSVFD is a completely volunteer department with about 30 members, but it is always looking to grow.

     “If anybody else wants to come out, they’re welcome to,” said Porter.

     The LSVFD works on training monthly, according to Porter.

     “We have a volunteer class for training that occurs every month,” Porter said. “The class is for everyone, especially people who have never had the class before. We also do training on everything from driving trucks to fighting fire and working with all the tools we have.”

     Even with their recent success, the LSVFD plans to continue to improve.

     “We’re going to keep growing and try to get the Caseyville station rating even lower,” said Porter. “We’re steadily getting bigger with more members and we’re just trying to keep growing and getting better.”

     In addition to Loyd Star’s ratings upgrade, the Monticello Fire Department also recently improved to a six rating for Monticello and an eight for Lawrence County.