VIDALIA, La. – Today, an official of the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana will visit Concordia Fire District No. 1 to determine whether the district’s fire rating should be raised from 8 to 6.

The district will be graded on equipment, personnel, water supply and facilities and should know in two to three weeks if its rating will be raised. If it is, the yearly homeowners’ insurance bill for the 7,500 households served by the district would fall about 15 percent.

&uot;I don’t really know how much we pay in insurance — my husband handles most of that,&uot;&160;said Joye Denny, who has lived south of Ferriday for 40 years. &uot;But anything that saves us money, I’m certainly in favor of, so I&160;hope they get it.&uot;

The district was last graded seven years ago — just after building its first station — and was raised from 10, the lowest rating, to 8. Since then, it has added seven stations, 14 trucks, three part-time firefighters for day shifts and two 5,000-gallon tanker trucks. The parish has also put a 911 system in place.

During his visit, the official will review training records, facilities and equipment. Firefighters will also be timed on how quickly they can transport water from the Concordia Parish Correctional Facility to the Concordia Farmers Gin, a distance of about one mile.

About 20 of the department’s 49 volunteer firefighters will take part in today’s rating activities.

Other firefighters — as well as Vidalia, Ferriday, Ridgecrest and Jonesville fire departments — will be on standby in case a fire, medical call or vehicle crash happens.

&uot;If nothing else, we’ll shut (the exercises) down to respond to an actual call,&uot;&160;said Nolan Cothren, chief of the district, which serves unincorporated Concordia Parish.

And District No. 1 is not the only department currently working towards a higher rating. Vidalia, which has a rating of 4, will be graded in mid-July.

Ridgecrest, which received a rating of 5 two years ago, probably will not be graded again until 2005, said Fire Chief Lynn Delaney.

Regrading for Ferriday, which has a rating of 6, is due in about one year.