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East Missoula fire officials warn dissolution could leave parts of the community uninsurable
Summary
Fire officials at the March 10 community council meeting said East Missoula currently holds a split ISO rating of 4 and warned that if the rural fire department dissolved, areas outside a five-minute response time could fall to ISO 10 and become effectively uninsurable.
The fire chief and assistant chief told the East Missoula Community Council on March 10 they plan an open house (tentatively April 11) to answer residents' questions and to explain how a potential dissolution of the East Missoula rural fire department would affect homeowners insurance.
The chief said the community currently has a split ISO rating of 4. "If for some reason we were to go away, dissolve as a fire department, East Missoula homeowners would eventually lose their homeowners insurance," the chief said. "Most of you would go to a 10, which is uninsurable," he added, describing how some areas would drop to an ISO of 10 if not within a five-minute response-time zone.
Officials said that whether another agency (the City of Missoula Fire Department or Missoula Rural Fire District) would preserve coverage depends on response-time maps and whether the community petitions to annex into another district. The chief emphasized that neither the city nor the rural district is automatically obligated to cover East Missoula unless service arrangements or annexation occur; those agencies can set their own service charges.
Staff described the mutual-aid and closest-unit dispatch arrangements that normally bring ladder trucks and other apparatus from neighboring stations when needed. The chief said East Missoula cannot afford a ladder truck itself — "a used ladder truck is $1,600,000" — and that partners such as Missoula Rural and the City of Missoula supply those assets under mutual aid.
Residents asked whether transfer of service would preserve ISO ratings across the whole area. The chief said anything outside a five-minute response time from a station would likely fall into the higher ISO band and become uninsurable unless another department provided closer coverage.
The chief and assistant chief said they would circulate a FAQ and post the open-house date on their social media; they also made flyers available at the meeting and said they would remain after the meeting to answer individual questions.
