6. Hinz letter re second fire station
Scandia Fire & Rescue
15040 Scandia Trail North
Scandia, MN 55073
To Scandia Planning Commission
The fire department currently has one fire station that was built in 2000 through a citizen approved
referendum. We are requesting to build a second fire station on Manning Trail south of Scandia Trail.
Here are some of the reasons and benefits that we feel justifies the project.
1. For many years ISO (Insurance Services Office) rated an entire city with its fire departments rating.
This process was changed about 5 years ago. The new process only allows homes within 5 road miles
of the fire station to receive the fire departments rating, any homes beyond 5 road miles are
automatically rated at a 10 (10 being the worst rating). This means that any home within 5 road miles
of our station have a rating of 6 and home greater than 5 miles have a 10. Over the last few year
insurance companies have been reviewing policy holder policies and adjusting their premium to
reflect the new rating schedule. We have received multiple calls from Scandia residents that have
seen large a increase in premiums or have been told that they would no longer be covered. This
proposed fire station location would allow some of our more populated areas to receive the same
rating as the downtown area receive.
2. We would also be able to achieve a better response time to locations on the west side of the city for
both medical and fire related emergencies.
3. As many already know, almost all fire departments in the country are having issues finding
individuals that want to dedicate the time to be part of the fire department and provide support to the
community. We currently require all members to live or work within 8 minutes of the fire station to
be a member. This time has been adjusted many time to find the appropriate response, the longer it
takes to get a crew to respond to the emergency any shorter and the possible member count becomes
unsustainable. This second station would open our recruiting to a whole new group of possible
members and would give our current & new members located on the west side of the community a
faster response.
4. Another possible benefit would be the ability to charge surrounding cities to have our fire department
provide additional coverage to their city, as most surrounding communities have had the same issue
we have with the change to the ISO rating system.
I have also included a map to show our current station and the possible location of a second station. The
circles are 3 miles, the rule is 5 road miles, so the circle is close, but some spots would cover farther and
some would be less. With the map you can see that most of the city would be covered by adding a second
station. This would improve the service provided by the city to almost all the residents of Scandia.
Thank you
Scandia Fire Chief
Mike Hinz