Class 1 Rated Fire Districts.... only 44 in U.S. !

[Guest]

Congrats to this SC FD for becoming one of only 44 in U.S. with Class 1 rating.

How many Class 1 Fire districts do we have in NYState?? Any of them combination paid/volunteer?

S.C. Fire District Achieves Class 1 Rating

Nov 30, 2004 10:25 AM

The Boiling Springs (S.C.) Fire District has attained a Class 1 rating from the Insurances Services Office Inc., becoming one of only 44 fire districts nationwide to achieve the ISO’s highest Public Protection Classification rating for fire suppression capabilities and only the third in South Carolina.

Boiling Springs has been working toward this goal for several years, according to Fire Chief Gerald D. Luker. "I am extremely proud of everyone in our organization. It takes a total team effort to achieve a Class 1 rating,†Luker said.

The district provides fire protection to approximately 26,000 residents in 15 square miles on Greenville County's east side. Chartered in 1970, it has strived to increase services and manage the rapid growth on the east side without raising taxes, Luker said. The district has 38 paid personnel and 20 volunteers operating three fire stations. Equipment includes eight pumper trucks, two aerial ladders and a rescue truck.

Boiling Springs Fire District joins Charleston and Myrtle Beach as the only Class 1 fire departments in South Carolina. Boiling Springs is also the only special purpose district as well as combination paid and volunteer Class 1 department in the state, according to Luker.

The ISO Public Protection Classification helps insurance companies assess risk for fire losses in local communities and is used to set insurance rates, based an analysis of the fire department, which includes such factors as fire alarm and communication systems, equipment, staff training, geographic locations of fire stations and water supply. The ratings go from Class 1, which represents exemplary fire protection, to Class 10, which indicates that the area's fire-suppression program does not meet ISO's minimum criteria.

[mikeinet 37]

Syracuse, NY has an ISO 1 Rating

[57crew 1]

how does a department get the rating, response times, personal? just wondering

[mfc2257 464]

It's a combination of factors... Some has to do with apparatus, coverage area, proximity of stations to major areas, response etc.

Example... If you don't have hyrdrants in parts of your district, and you don't have a tanker your rating drops. If you have buildings with more than two stories and you don't have a truck it drops.

I also believe that there are assessments on the amount of property loss within the district over time that contributes as well.

[Remember585 815]

I've also heard that your Dispatch center and communications have something to do with your rating as well.

I think New Rochelle has a good ISO rating too - maybe someone else from that area can confirm this.

[TRUCK6018 50]

There are three factors that determines your ISO rating.

40% of your overall rating is determined by water supply (hydrants, other availible water sources).

50% on the fire department (training, equiptment, geographic response, etc)

10% on dispatching (telephone systems, alerting, dispatch staffing, comunications).

More info on the Insurance Services Orginization can be found on the web site: www.isomitigation.com. Look under the PPC link.

Additional information can be found on the late Larry Stephens website www.isoslayer.com. On the website is his book on the subject in word format.

Larry in some circles was known as the ISO guru. He was not afraid to speak his peace on the subject, but was often scrutinized about his opinions.

One of Larry's greatest achievements was assisting the Fallon/Churchill, Nevada fire department get a Level 1 rating. They were the first all volunteer fire department to achieve this rating.

[Guest]

OK guys, here is some more info from the ISO website. They use what they call their Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). Grading is based on : 10% Fire alarms; 50% Engine companies and 40% (!!) Water supply.

The Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) is the manual ISO uses in reviewing the fire-fighting capabilities of individual communities. The schedule measures the major elements of a community's fire-suppression system and develops a numerical grading called a Public Protection Classification (PPCTM).

Here's how it works:

Fire alarms

Ten percent of the overall grading is based on how well the fire department receives fire alarms and dispatches its fire-fighting resources. Our field representatives evaluate the communications center, looking at the number of operators at the center; the telephone service, including the number of telephone lines coming into the center; and the listing of emergency numbers in the telephone book. Field representatives also look at the dispatch circuits and how the center notifies firefighters about the location of the emergency.

Engine companies

Fifty percent of the overall grading is based on the number of engine companies and the amount of water a community needs to fight a fire. ISO reviews the distribution of fire companies throughout the area and checks that the fire department tests its pumps regularly and inventories each engine company's nozzles, hoses, breathing apparatus, and other equipment.

ISO also reviews the fire-company records to determine:

type and extent of training provided to fire-company personnel

number of people who participate in training

firefighter response to emergencies

maintenance and testing of the fire department's equipment

Water supply

Forty percent of the grading is based on the community's water supply. This part of the survey focuses on whether the community has sufficient water supply for fire suppression beyond daily maximum consumption. ISO surveys all components of the water supply system, including pumps, storage, and filtration. To determine the rate of flow the water mains provide, we observe fire-flow tests at representative locations in the community. Finally, we evaluate the distribution of fire hydrants.

[Guest]

TRUCK6018, I guess I was on their website when you made your post. The more info the better, didn't mean to duplicate the #s....

[mikeinet 37]

is there any web site that you can look at that has a listing of all of the ISO ratings for departments?

Side note: http://www.isomitigation.com/ppc/1000/imgs...USA-PPC-map.gif -- there's a map of all of the ISO 1 Rated Deparments in the US.

[TRUCK6018 50]

is there any web site that you can look at that has a listing of all of the ISO ratings for departments?

To my knowledge there is no such public list. If there were, it would have to include every fire department in the US.

[BFDCAR5 0]

I am a fire dispatcher for the City of myrtle Beach fire dept. there are many things that iso looks at when evaluating for class 1, the most important thing is Qaulity control.. we are always being audited by the admin and corrective actions are taken if the calls are not dispatched properly,, being a dispatcher during a job if very tuff, not only dispatching and keeping track of time for the benchmarking,, but also keeping track of what companies are on scene and which ones are coming in. Dispatch times and onscene times are very important to ISO, from toneout till first unit on scene should be no longer then 3 mins, also if additional resources (ie electric and gas) being notifiedtimes are very important.

[Guest]

Congratulations to BFDCAR5 and Myrtle Beach for their Class 1 rating!! =D>