A city such as Natchez with so many historic houses and buildings, many of them antebellum, should have the best fire protection available.

Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The city is in danger of dropping from a class 5 rating to a class 6 on a 1-to-10 scale with 1 being the best and 10 being the worst.

Many factors go into a city’s fire rating, including water supply, emergency communication systems, fire departments, manpower and equipment, to name a few.

Natchez was recently notified its ladder fire truck is out of compliance due to age and pumping capacity and if it is not upgraded, the city’s fire rating could drop.

A drop in the rating could not only cost residents more in fire insurance premiums but also in public safety.

Not to mention potential loss of irreplaceable historic properties and the people who live inside many of those structures.

An inadequate ladder truck hinders firefighters’ ability to fight a blaze, particularly if one of the larger downtown buildings were on fire.

That in turn could jeopardize other people’s health and safety, not to mention surrounding properties.

Natchez aldermen agreed Thursday to pursue funding options to obtain a new fire truck to keep the city in compliance.

That is a good start.

We hope the city will follow through. Whatever the cost of a new fire truck, it is worth the expenditure as a matter not only of public safety but also of protecting our city’s properties, historic and otherwise.

We also hope the city’s efforts in improving fire protection will not stop at a new ladder truck.

We would like to see the city improve its fire rating, and we certainly don’t want to the rating degrade.