Hardworking Fire Department Brings Lower Insurance Rates To Berryhill

Businesses and homeowners in Berryhill could soon see a drop in insurance rates thanks to hard work put in by the Berryhill Fire Department.

The Berryhill Fire Department received a new Public Protection Classification Class 2 rating, meaning that Berryhill is at a very low risk for fire danger, which is great news for insurance policyholders in the area.

Fire Chief Michael Hall said the rating puts them in the top one percent of fire departments in Oklahoma, and even in the country.

"There's about 1,120 fire departments in Oklahoma, and there are 11 ISO Class 2s, and two Class 1s," he said.

The only two Class 1s are Oklahoma City and Midwest City. Since Berryhill's department is significantly smaller, Hall said they'll have to put in more work to get there.

“We're graded on our ability to document training, to document our proficiency with apparatus, to make sure our trucks are taken care of and they're tested on a regular basis," Hall said. “Really, they decide whether we've met all the requirements to really show capability on fire suppression.”

The chief said they are the only combination fire department in the state with a Class 2 rating.

The department employs seven firefighters, but around 25 of them are volunteers.

"What we really got the most credit for was, we averaged about 12,000 hours of training the last 12 to 18 months, and that's an exceptionally large amount of training. That's getting into paid department kind of hours," Hall said.

But, the chief said the hard work is worth it. Every time they move up a class, insurance rates go down somewhat for homeowners in the area, but it's especially impactful for local businesses.

Hall said the next goal is to make it to rating Class 1.