The town of Timmonsville joined the Florence County unified fire district and closed the Timmonsville Fire Department. According to Mary Bines, Timmonsville Administrative Clerk, the change will help residents see lower property insurance costs.
A Nasdaq article showed that insurance companies look at the overall performance of fire districts to determine home insurance quotes. The companies rate communities on a scale of 1 to 11. Communities with lower numbers are seen as having effective fire response times and high level protection services.
Since the Florence area has an ISO rating of one, Timmonsville residents should see a decrease in their monthly bill. Florence County Council Chairman, Waymon Mumford said residents should also see an improvement in call response times.
“The quick response means a lot because you can save lives by getting the proper personnel to the location on time with the equipment,” Mumford said.
Timmonsville officials said $47,000 of the town’s $1.1 million budget was being spent on operating the fire station. By joining the unified fire district, Florence County will cover all fire expenses.
“It will be a tremendous help to all of the citizens because they need that service when something happens. I hope and pray it doesn’t. But, we know it will,“ Mumford said.
There are seven districts in the Florence County unified fire district. Those districts are the Sardis-Timmonsville Rural Fire Department, Johnsonville Rural Fire Department, Howe Springs Fire Department, Hannah-Salem-Friendfield Fire District, West Florence Rural Fire Department, Olanta Rural Fire Department and the Windy Hill Volunteer Fire Company.
The Sardis-Timmonsvillle Rural Fire Department has responded to calls in the Timmonsville area. Fire Chief, Jeff Dennis said being in the unified district has its benefits.
“We’ve always had nice equipment, but during the unified, we purchased two new engines and a new tanker, plus a new station,” Dennis said.
