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New Vance County Fire Insurance District map
Note: Areas in white are outside of fire insurance district coverage.
The Vance County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to extend its nine fire insurance districts from their current five-mile limits to six miles.
The move was prompted by legislation adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly which allows fire districts to be up to six miles from the appropriate fire station. Mileage is determined by road travel.
Fire insurance districts in Vance County, excluding the City of Henderson, include: Bearpond, Cokesbury, Drewry, Epsom, Golden Belt, Hicksboro, Kittrell, Townsville, and Watkins.
Drewry and Epsom are located in adjacent counties; however, a significant portion of their districts are located in Vance.
According to Emergency Management Director Brian Short and City/County Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson, there will remain some areas which will still remain outside of a fire insurance district. They noted, however, that all of Vance County is covered with fire protection service.
According to County fire protocol, in the event of a structure fire, up to three fire departments are dispatched: the appropriate fire department for the insurance district, the next closest volunteer fire department, and the Vance County Fire Department are sent on calls in that order as needed.
Those areas that were incorporated into a fire district will be upgraded from a fire insurance rating of 10, which signifies no fire protection, to a 9, the lowest insurable fire protection rating. This move will make building owners eligible for discounts in fire insurance premiums who were previously charged higher rates.
Short noted to commissioners that districts did not change. The only changes that were made were that some previously unincorporated areas were incorporated into adjacent districts.
The Emergency Management Director also noted that the changes were a voluntary effort on the part of the Vance County Fire Fighter’s Association.
County Commissioner Scott Hughes noted that the changes would not help anything but the insurance ratings.