The Port Angeles Fire Department needs to hire more firefighters or the city risks a downgrade in its fire insurance rating, Chief Ken Dubuc told the Port Angeles Business Association on Tuesday.
A downgrade could mean up to 90 percent of residents and businesses in Port Angeles would see anywhere from a 5 percent to a 10 percent increase in insurance costs, Dubuc has said.
“We need help, quite frankly,” he told a couple dozen people at PABA’s weekly meeting. “We’ve kicked the can down the road for a long time, and we can’t afford to do that anymore.”
Because a Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau inspection in late 2015 determined the city’s fire insurance rating should be downgraded from 4 to 5 out of 10, the Port Angeles Fire Department has been working to ensure that doesn’t happen, the fire chief said.