MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake improved its public protection rating.

The Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau (WSRB), a non-profit, public service organization, evaluates cities based on their fire defenses.

The WSRB assigns each city a class between 1 and 10, with 10 indicating there is no credible fire protection.

This isn't the first time the WSRB has rated Moses Lake. The organization raised the city's class from a 4 to a 5 after an on-site visit in 1991, and kept the rating essentially flat after a telephone interview in 2002.

But things were different this time, according to Moses Lake Fire Chief Tom Taylor, who along with his staff spent about three months pulling documentation together for an extensive on-site evaluation that lasted two days and included station tours and equipment reviews.

"For us, this acts as a great self-evaluation," Taylor said. "We made a lot of improvement in a lot of areas but we also found some areas we can still improve."

The WSRB examined everything from communications systems to equipment maintenance, Taylor said, uncovering some shortfalls in staffing levels and the amount of fire fighting apparatus in the city, but also revealing several improvements since the last review, including good response times, advances in the city's water supply and more than adequate training hours for firefighters.

Moses Lake's return to a class 4 rating brings the city in line with several other Washington municipalities near its size, including Camas, population 19,355, Pullman, population 29,799, and Wenatchee, with a population of about 31,900.

Of the roughly 700 cities and towns in Washington that have received a public protection rating, about half are class 7 or better, according to the WSRB.

Ephrata and Quincy are both class 5, while Soap Lake and Warden are class 7, according to Robert Ferrell, WSRB's manager of Fire Protection Systems and Services.

Most insurance companies use WSRB ratings as a base for their fire insurance rates, although Ferrell said it's hard to say with any certainty what the new rating could mean for Moses Lake rate payers.

"It varies from company to company how much this could affect change, but the protection class rating is just one of several factors insurance companies use in their formula to determine rates," he said.

Bob Trask, with Moses Lake's Trask Insurance, said commercial insurance carriers could see potential savings, although the new classification may have little effect on residential insurance premiums because WSRB ratings between 2 and 6 are often grouped together.

Other Moses Lake insurance agents agreed with Trask, saying while a class 4 is definitely better than a 5, it's hard to quantify how it might affect premiums.

Taylor said he plans to meet with WSRB officials next week to clarify exactly what the new rating means for the city and for Moses Lake residents.

"It's good news that we got better because we're always trying to serve the community more efficiently, but - call me greedy - I want to get even better," he said. "We understand we can't go out and buy 10 new fire engines right now or build five new stations and hire 100 guys. That's not Moses Lake and that's not living within the constraints of responsible fiscal management. But on the other hand, the city's growing."

Taylor and other city officials are now trying to determine the costs and benefits of trying to shave another number off the rating scale.

"We're only 390 points away from a class 3 stage, and the city has to decide how much money they're going to throw at that new class," he said. "If dropping down to a class 3 only reduces your homeowner insurance premiums by a buck a month, is that worth it?"

Moses Lake's new public protection rating will go into effect May 1, after which insurance holders are encouraged to contact their insurance agencies to determine how rates might be affected.