PITTSTON -- Fire Chief Jason Farris believes the planned purchase of a new fire truck primarily with federal grant funds, combined with other planned improvements, will bring lower insurance rates for local residents and businesses.

The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $190,000 grant to the Pittston Fire Department through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.

Farris said the department plans to purchase a new, $200,000 tanker and pumper truck with the grant and $10,000 in town funds to replace the 20-year-old homemade tanker the department uses now to shuttle water to fires.

The new truck would be able to hold 3,000 gallons of water -- 1,200 gallons more than the current truck, which consists of a GMC chassis with a body and tank made by a member of the fire department.

The new truck's main job would be hauling water from hydrants and other water sources to fires.

However, its ability to also pump water would allow the truck to be used at fire scenes, when needed.

"The truck we're going to get -- we're not going for bells and whistles," Farris said. "We're going for practicality, for what we'll need now and 20 or 30 years from now.

"Due to the grant, the town gets a brand new truck worth $200,000 for $10,000."

Additionally, Farris said he hopes the new truck and its ability to haul more water to fires will help the fire department's efforts to improve its ISO fire protection rating for areas of the town that don't have fire hydrants.

Improving the ISO rating, which insurance companies use to determine the quality of fire protection in a given area, Farris said, should result in lower property insurance premiums for local residents and building owners.

ISO ratings are between one and 10, with one being the best and 10 indicating a town does not meet minimum standards.

Pittston's current ISO rating for parts of town served by fire hydrants is six. But its rating for parts of town not served by hydrants is only nine.

"We're a much better fire department than that rating shows," Farris said. "If everything goes right, we want to go from a nine to a six (throughout town)."

In general, according to Mike Waters, vice president of ISO's Risk Decision Services department, the price of fire insurance in a community with a good rating is substantially lower than in a community with a poor rating, assuming all other factors are equal.

The independent organization's rating system provides an objective, nationwide standard that insurance companies use to base their coverage rates.

The specific impact on rates is unclear, and could vary upon multiple factors, such as which insurance company is involved.

But if most everyone in town has even slightly lower insurance rates, Farris said, it could add up.

"If each family saves $10 to $100 per year and there's, say, 1,000 homes in Pittston, that adds up to significant savings," said Farris, who is also a professional firefighter in Augusta.

Other changes Farris said may help the town improve its ratings are changes to mutual aid agreements with Farmingdale and Randolph, which allow firefighters from those towns to respond directly to Pittston when a fire is reported, rather than wait to be asked to come to town by Pittston fire officials. Pittston firefighters, in turn, do the same for fires in Farmingdale and Randolph.

Pittston voters at a special town meeting Thursday also agreed to release $3,900 from the future fire account to pay for a review of all the town's fire dry hydrants.

Dry hydrants are located at water sources such as ponds in parts of town not serviced by water lines, and can be tapped into by firefighters.

Farris said the funds will pay for an engineer to examine each of Pittston's dry hydrants to make sure they can supply an adequate amount of water.

ISO ratings are determined, in part, by testing whether towns can get specific amounts of water to a fire within a certain amount of time.

In one test, for example, Farris said they have to be able to flow 250 gallons of water within five minutes of getting to a fire, and maintain that flow for an hour.

Farris said the department can meet those requirements and looks forward to showing ISO it can do so, with expectations of improving Pittston's rating.

Farris praised residents for annually putting town matching funds into an account so the town was eligible to apply for the competitive federal grant, and thanked the federal government and Maine's legislative delegation for the grant.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com