Your Next RATING Simple Solutions

By Larry H. Stevens

(970) 882-8027

E-mail: ISOslayer@aol.com

Web page: www.isoslayer.com

Copyright 1980- November 4, 2003

ISO™ is a registered trademark

Table of Contents

Introduction

GPM per Tanker

MY CONSULTING SERVICES

Sample Shuttle Drill

Notable Grades

Procedures

What What I Do

Nurse Tanker Relay

Choosing a Consultant

Long Hose Lays

It’s ISO™ Time!

Pump Capability at Draft Chart

It Doesn’t Really Matter

Needed Data

Doesn't Work That Way Here

Station Travel Time

From a Class 5 to a Class 1

Relays

What’s State Farm Up To?

Relay GPM Chart

ISO™ Differences

Letters

Legislative Support

Drafting

Fire Flows and Batch Reports

Data Sheets

Fire Flow Work Sheet

Who Decides

Smart Ways Around the Rules

When To Invite ISO Back

Recieving and Handling Alarms

Water Supply

Water Works

A Tale of Two Ratings

Discharge Tables

City

54th Power Chart

Rural Area

Friction Loss Chart

Supply Works Capacity

When Your Rating Goes Up

Hydrant Colors

Hydrants Types, Styles and Inspections

Where Do You Start

Number of Hydrants Tested Chart

Sample Hydrant Card

The ISO™ Is Due Here in 45 Days!

Hydrant Spacing

The Program

Fire Department

Equipment on Existing Equipment

Sample Point Total Tallies

Engine Company list

Service Company list

Insurance Rates

Equipment Substitutions

Residential Premiums

Automatic Aid

Commercial Rates

Response to Structure Fires

NFPA or ISO™

Best Ratings

Personnel

Class 1’s

Got Pre-Fire Plans?

Breakdown of Class 1-10

Pre-plan Form

Best Fire Department Supply

Training--The Easy Points

Divergence

In Writing

Distribution

Pump Capacity

State Farm Adopts New

Fire Department Supply

Community Out Reach Program

Rural Water Supply

My References

Class 9 Requirements

Press Releases

Dwelling 8 & 8B Requirements

How Much Water

Credit by Demonstration

How Much Water on Wheels

ISO™ phone numbers and email

Sample ISO™ Invite Letter

Shuttles

Introduction

I set about writing this book in 1980 when as a deputy Nevada state fire marshal in the division of fire service training. I was confronted by endless questions about this new thing called the ISO™ Grading Schedule. That same year, the grading schedule changed and I started collecting data. This book is updated every three months. What is ISO™? The Insurance Services Office (ISO™) is a for profit monopoly that is authorized by your state legislature or Department of Insurance in 48 states (Washington and Louisiana have their own state systems based upon the 1974 schedule) to rate community fire defenses. ISO™ then sells that data to the insurance industry for the purposes of establishing insurance rates. ISO™ and its predecessors have been rating communities since 1916. In 1889 the National Board of Fire Underwriters (NBFO) started grading fire protection. The NBFU was merged into ISO™ in 1971. The goal of rating communities is to provide better insurance rate equity in recognizing public fire suppression abilities. So who uses ISO™ ratings? According to ISO™, virtually every insurance carrier uses their data to calculate rates. The ISO™ audit is a totally open book test. The only problem is they don’t share the whole book and the rules with the fire services. Thus the purpose for this free guide. The ISO™ rating play a part setting commercial, contents, homeowner, crop and rental insurance rates. ISO™ rates communities every 10 years if their population is over 25,000 or 15 years if they are under 25,000. In addition, they send out questionnaires every 30 months. Depending upon how you fill out form you can trigger an audit. Changes in district boundaries, station locations, automatic aid agreements, number and type of apparatus and many others could also result in an early audit. Anytime a community can prove to ISO™ they can improve their grade, ISO™ will come out and re-rate the community.

The ISO™ completes four evaluations and awards individual grades for the

following:

1) A review of the communications and dispatch facilities.

2) A review of the water system and supplies.

3) A review of the fire department.

4) And a community wide grade combined of the three above.

The community wide grade has a 100 point score and is made up of communications which counts for 10%, water supply which totals 40% and the fire department is worth 50%. Every ten points is a Class. The grade is presented in a Class 1 to 10 format with Class 1 being the best and Class 9 being the worst with a fire department. A Class 10 indicates no creditable fire protection is available within 5 miles.

Points Needed for Each Class

% Credit Class % Credit Class

90.0 – 100 1 40.0 - 49.9 6

80.0 – 89.9 2 30.0 – 39.9 7

70.0 – 79.9 3 20.0 – 29.9 8

60.0 – 69.9 4 10.0 - 19.9 9

50.0 – 59.9 5 00.1 - 9.9 10

The grading audit simply measures compliance to a few national minimum standards in the respective areas. Examples of questions asked are: Can a caller find the fire department number in the phone book? Does the water system match the needed fire flow requirements of the buildings in the community? Is the fire department capable of addressing the possible fires in the city? Are your ladders long enough to reach the buildings you protect?

A Class 1 community pays the lowest possible rates and scores 90% or better on meeting a portion of the national standards in communications, fire department and water supply. A Class 5 pays medium rates and meets 50 to 60% of the national standards. A Class 9 is the worst grade given for any form of recognized fire protection and only scores 10 to 20%. There is at least 62% swing in rates controlled by the rating.

A poll of the Nation’s fire chiefs indicates the importance of ISO™ ratings and public fire protection. Sixty two percent say it effects budget decisions. Seventy percent say it saves people money but more importantly 90% say it is important to saving lives and property. ISO™ collects data from all fire loses in the U.S. What they have found is insurance companies pay out less in claims in communities with better ISO™ ratings. In fact, there is 340% difference top to bottom on commercial losses and a 297% difference on residential losses. Good fire protection is an investment in saving lives and property. Loss per $1000 valuation Source: ISO™

Class Commercial Residential Class Commercial Residential

1 $0.25 $0.37 6 $0.45 $0.55

2 $0.30 $0.37 7 $0.55 $0.75

3 $0.35 $0.42 8 $0.60 $0.78

4 $0.37 $0.45 9 $0.68 $0.79

5 $0.38 $0.49 10 $0.85 $1.10

My Consulting Services

The most common question I get is, “how did you gather all this info on how to improve a departments rating?” The answer is simple, with so much at stake, cities, towns, fire boards, unions, associations, counties and fire districts have hired me as an expert to give them a better chance of scoring better on their next rating. Over the last 20 years I’ve helped 200 communities in 42 states preparing for their ISO™ ratings lower their grades. Communities as large as Houston, Texas (the 4th largest FD in the US) and as small as Kingston, Nevada (pop 110) have hired me to be their agent. Most fire chiefs have never had to face an ISO™ evaluation. Consequently they are looking for someone who has. Their first requirement is a track record of success. I’ve been pretty lucky in that category.

*Class 1’s in the biggest cities and smallest towns in the U.S.

*Best ISO Grade in the U.S, 9 times.

*The highest score ever attained 97.01 points.

*Best paid department ISO grade in the U.S, 8 times.

*Best combination fire department ISO grade in the U.S.

*Best volunteer department ISO grade in the U.S, 4 times.

*Best ISO rural water supply grade in the U.S, 13 times.

*Best ISO hose lay grade in the U.S, 9 times.

*Best ISO tanker shuttle grade in the U.S, 8 times.

*Best largest city ISO grade in the U.S, 3 times.

*Best smallest town ISO grade in the U.S, 4 times.

*First and only volunteer department ISO Class 1’s in the U.S, 3 times.

*First and only combination department ISO Class 1’s, 3 times.

*Best ISO grade in Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and New Mexico.

*Best paid department ISO grade in Nevada, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and New Mexico.

*Best volunteer department ISO grade in Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Texas,

*Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina,

*Best Combination department ISO grade in Texas, 2 times.

*Best rural ISO water supply grades in Nevada, Texas, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia.

*Largest Class drop in ISO history 6 times.

*9 Class drop at one time, once; 8 Classes at one time once; 7 Classes, 2 times; 6 Classes, 2 times, 5 Classes, 4 times; 4 Classes, 4 times; and 3 Classes at one time, on 3 occasions.

*Largest class drop to a Class 1: 9 classes dropped at one time, once, 8 Class drop, once; 6 Classes three times and 5 Classes twice, 4 Classes twice, 3 Classes once and two C lasses once.

*25 of the top rural water supply grades in the country,

What I Do

I’m often asked, “what exactly do you do?” I help collect all the required information for the rating and package it in a useable form. Assist the department in getting money to fund upgrades from the elected officials. Work with the water and communications arms of government to make sure they are on the same page for the rating. Help the community make needed upgrades in fire protection in a more rapid fashion than they might normally act. One constant is not to do a single thing just for the rating unless it improves community fire protection services. Specify new apparatus for the department. Write and receive grants for fire apparatus, equipment and water systems. Create innovative low cost solutions to solve gaps in the community fire defenses. Bring neighboring departments and governments together to accomplish a goal. Train the fire fighters on how to pass the hands on portions of the rating. And finally present their community’s data to the ISO™ field agent when he is in town and perform all the necessary follow up and make sure they get the grade we set out to get. The end goal is to make it as easy as possible on the graded department to score the maximum points and use all of the rules available. My last two gradings were scheduled for 5 and 10 days. One took 3 1/2 hours and the other barely 2 days. In each case the departments dropped 5 and 6 Classes each! In addition, I have helped states create funding for fire departments based upon their ISO ratings.

Although I don’t advertise my services I take every opportunity to spread the gospel of ISO™ as a good funding tool for the fire service. It is something the elected officials listen to. Some of the best examples of how to take on ISO™ that I can share are from are from the departments and students who attend classes I was invited to teach around the country. For seven years I wrote a monthly column “Your Next Rating” in Fire Rescue Magazine trying to get the word out. Over the years I kept extensive notes of what worked and what didn’t work. I’d record all the silly rules that were pulled out of thin air from the Procedures Manuals that are not available to the fire service. The notes from those ratings became this book. And the book became the magazine column.

During that time some amazing things happened. A small desert community (Beatty, Nevada population 1700) protected by volunteers asked me to give them a hand with their rating. They earned a Class 4, a first for any non-hydranted area. Previously they had a Class 6 in town and a Class 9/10 out of town. Only 2.65% of the Nation’s fire departments have better grades. A mere 1500 departments have a better rating and 43,000 have a poorer grade. What makes rural water supply grades special is the fact only 400 departments had ever earned anything other than a Class 9 the worst grade you can have with a organized fire department. Shortly thereafter two other departments I assisted dropped from Class 10’s to Class 3’s without water systems relying on shuttles and draft point supplied relays. Only sixteen thousands of one percent of the fire departments in the country have done better. Of course all of them have done it with a complete water system. I’ve been lucky enough to help a bunch of rural departments get Class 3’s and 4’s with shuttles, long hose lays and drafting. A couple departments have dropped 7 classes at one time. All of a sudden other departments heard of the successes and I was spending several weeks a month on the road helping other do the same thing.

A good friend’s department (Dallas, Oregon population 10,000) earned a Class 2 in a hydranted city, at the time the best volunteer grade in the U.S. At the time only 80 departments all fully paid had Class 2 grades. I helped three volunteer departments (Fallon, NV, Tomball, TX and DuBois, PA) get Class 1’s, the only three ever awarded to the un-paid fire service. My advice helped Class 5 and Class 6 combination departments (Frisco and Wylie, Texas) both score a Class 1’s in one step. What was special about the Frisco http://www.friscofire.org/ rating is when the Field Representative came to town he said the department would earn a Class 3. In 90 minutes we showed him why the department should score a Class 1. Another oddity, was right after a county wide ISO™ class I taught three departments in that county all got Class 1’s. There must be something to the words in this book. Today only 33 departments and 44 community’s have Class 1’s out of approximately 88,000 ratings. That number will be going up shortly due to some other departments following the advice in this book. Many departments through the excuse of ISO™ rating process actually started the process for the first time of conducting strategic analysis of their fire protection needs. While chasing a better ISO™ grade every department improved their firefighting capabilities. It has always been my goal not to have a fire department chase a better grade but to improve fire protection services. In the process of improving their system the ISO™ grade will fall with it. I like to work fast, in most cases from the time I am invited into a community until the grading is completed is 6 to 9 months. I don’t do multi-year plans, there is way too much money at stake.

Through word of mouth cities, county and fire district officials invited me to their locals to have a look see and suggest changes. Many chiefs allowed me to speak to their elected officials and gather over 60 million dollars worth of improvements and the number goes up every month. A couple times a month some community would be given authorization to follow their consultants report and order fire trucks, loose equipment, fill in missing hydrants, add stations, increase staffing and get about the things that improve the rating. It is very rewarding to see progress.

One common question I’m often asked is, “Anyone can tell us what we should do, what about your own department, what kind of a grade do you have?” I like to answer that question by saying I live in the smallest town ever to earn a Class one and we did it with volunteers! And yes, I helped then attain it. My hometown Fallon, Nevada population in town 7500 and in the 5000 square mile county with 24,000 people . http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Trails/6658/ We were able to get authorization to replace all the fire trucks and the equipment they carried in just 72 hours with no prior notice from the time we presented the elected officials with our plan at an emergency city council meeting. That same week we got the county to buy in and carry half the load. We went from stone-age to star wars over night. Three new stations were built as well. Our city grade fell 5 classes and our rural grade 7, 8 and 9 classes. We currently sit at a Class 1 in town and Class 3 in our rural areas. Yes, a volunteer department can have the two best ISO™ ratings in the US. This consultant’s hometown followed his advice. In fact, I presented the data to ISO™ for the community just a few months after all the fire apparatus and equipment arrived.

Other communities for the first time understood the ISO™ game, brought me in and began investing in fire services. In Texas for example, Spring http://www.friscofire.org/ (population 100,000) purchased seven 75 foot CAF quints and a pair of mini pumpers, 3000 gpm heavy rescue hose wagons and 3000 gpm pumper tanker hose wagons. They offed all their old apparatus. They run over 26000 feet of large diameter hose to make their distant hydrants useable. They built and remodeled a station and bought all new loose equipment worth 9.2 million dollars. They were able to demonstrate the ability to meet an 8000 gpm fire flow without hydrants or mutual aid. Magnolia http://www.magnoliafire.org/ (population 40,000) also traded their fleet of city apparatus in and got 13 new rigs worth 4.5 million bucks. Now each station has an engine and a pumper tanker and 4000 feet of 5 inch hose to make full use of almost 100 draft sites. Neither department had to increase their budgets. Magnolia was the first department given credit by ISO™ for lifting water from ponds vertically 60 feet and up to 400 feet from a pumper using soft hose. Magnolia’s 295 square mile hydrantless coverage area grade dropped from a Class 9/10 rural area to a Class 3. Even with a fire flow requirement of 4000 gpm. Both departments were willing to invest in new technologies to improve their fire fighting abilities and lower their grade. In both cases I was able to show them how to restructure their finances for an immediate return on their investment. Their neighbor Tomball (population 30,000) was able to refine many of Spring and Magnolia’s ideas to earn their own district wide Class 3grade and snag a Class 1 in the hydranted portions. One demonstration performed by Tomball for their rating was two firefighters getting a draft out of a pond 150 feet from the engine and supplying a deck gun in just 46 seconds. The operation was off the cuff, just drive in and do it. Crosby, Texas with a crew of four and a 200 foot draft only needed 60 seconds. Another neat demo was a 4,250 foot supply line by Tomball. When they laid their supply line for ISO credit they laid half the hose and Magnolia laid the other half. They had never practiced the operation together before. All three proved Class 9 grades beyond 1000 feet from a hydrant do not need to exist. In fact all four of the departments have replaced the 1000 foot hydrant language to 5 miles from a fire station.

Some other Texas examples that I was able to help with include: Hood County (population 40,000) was able to get 10 fully equipped new pieces worth 2.2 million. Why did they order so many rigs? The county seat Granbury (population (7000) proved that ISO ratings do effect what people pay for fire insurance to the tune of $500 to $1500 a year in that county. Granbury got a quint and 7000 feet of hose to pursue their rating goals. Their ratings dropped from a Class 5 in town to a Class 3 (the best volunteer grade in Texas) and their rural rating a Class 9 dropped to a Class 6 the first water haul rating in Texas. Their neighboring county copied them to the tune of 29 rigs. Annaville http://www.geocities.com/annavillefd/ (population 10,000)ordered 9 fully equipped CAF units and three new stations for 6 million after going to the voters with a tripling of the tax rate. The volunteers covered a portion of a major city along with two career city fire stations. Every call gets a dual response of paid and volunteer fire departments. The people of that portion of the city are double taxed for fire protection service. Even with heavy opposition from the local media, the city council, city and union firefighters, 79% of the taxpayers voted in favor of improved fire services. Pasadena (population 250,000) ordered 12 new rigs, Crosby (population 10,000) 5 fully equipped CAFS rigs and three stations, Stafford (population 25,000) 2 rigs and lots of fire hydrants, they changed their Class 2 in town and Class 9 10 in the county areas to a Class 2 district wide. Seabrook (population 10,000) was able to get land for a new fire station and an awesome 4000 gpm heavy rescue hose wagon. Lucus got all new fire hose to make their lousy water system look better.

Many of these departments also took the opportunity of community focus for improved fire services to join the ranks of some of the most technologically advanced departments in the country. Items like complete electronic digital GPS digitally corrected maps indicating all their pre-fire plans and fire hydrants. Electronic accountability systems. Dozens of thermal imagers. Compressed air foam systems. State of the art aerials. All new extrication gear. Every member having a portable radio.

In nearby Colorado I helped several departments achieve similar success in acquiring apparatus to improve ISO scores. Animas (population 10,000) went to the people with a request for 10 million dollars for 21 new rigs, 5 fire stations. In addition, they wanted a half million a year increase in their operating budget. The people said yes. Why? ISO™ would save them all big money. Rattlesnake http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Trails/7873/ (population 3000) went to the voters for a request to buy 3 fully equipped high tech fire engines, sprinkle all of their fire stations, add a few cisterns and expand their stations plus add one. Over 92% of the voters voted for the bond. Why did the voters jump on board? Simple, the 100 square mile fire district with one fire hydrant and fire flows to 3000 gpm wanted to drop their ISO™ rating from a Class 9/10 to a Class 5 district wide. That would save every homeowner 200 to 850 dollars a year on their fire insurance. Did Rattlesnake ever get their Class 5? Yep! Berthod http://www.berthoudfire.org/ (population 25,000) went to the voters with a plan to triple their fire services. The public said go do it. They order 8 new rigs. It took just 10 minutes in Loveland (population 40,000) when I wasn’t even on the agenda to get elected officials to authorize two fully equipped pumper tankers on emergency purchase when the elected leaders found out how much money they could save via ISO™. Grand Lake has a brand new station and seven new custom rigs. They literally went from gas motors, commercial non-crew cabs and stick shifts to all wheel drive diesel automatics in one step.

Bradley-Properity volunteer fire department in West Virginia is in a 7 vehicle replacement program with their sights on major improvements. Departments like East Bend, North Carolina (population 4800) dropped from a Class 9 to a Class 5 in town and immediately set about lowering the towns rating to Class 3 using rural water supply rules. Their short-term goal is a Class 5 in their rural Class 9 areas. By restructuring their debt we were able to order 10,000 feet of 5 inch hose, properly equip all their apparatus, increase the size of their station and buy a pumper tanker. Another example of restructuring an existing budget was Marion, Virginia (population 5000). The city was willing to let the department stay within its budget but not offer any other financial support. The town allowed the FD to buy four new fully equipped rigs every 5 years forever replacing a fleet with an average age of 29 years.

A lot of folks say, we don’t have the money to chase our ISO™ rating. Those are the kind of places I really enjoying helping. Dolores, Colorado (population 2000) spent just $15,000 to make minor changes to their fleet, spent time practicing a few evolutions and scrounged from bigger cities in the process dropped their rating in town 4 classes and in the rural area 7. A Class 3 district wide within their existing budget in a 400 square mile fire district. Kingston, Nevada (population 110) protects 100 square miles with 11 fire hydrants, a hand me down 1957, 500 gpm pumper with 2 ˝” hose, a fuel truck that had rolled over and a used water tender. They dropped rating dropped 5 classes and they never spent a penny. The ISO™ grader came in asked a few questions and told the chief he’d no longer be a Class 10. Instead he’d be a Class 9. The chief said, he had hoped to be something better than a Class 9 so the ISO™ grader asked how much water he had on wheels and said he could give him a Class 8. The chief wanted something better than a Class 8. After two days a analysis the department earned a Class 5 district wide. So, what can you do on a $2500 a year budget? Save everyone $300 a year. I was able to apply for two federal fire grants for them and got both using ISO™ savings as the key. A government bought them a new fully equipped pumper and provided 1.2 million for a water system and 28 fire hydrants. Grass Valley, Imlay, Rye Patch and Silver Peak, Nevada (populations in the 200 to 300 range) all proved money wasn’t essential to drop your ISO rating 2 to 5 classes at a pop. If you ever need any help getting funding, lowering your rating or a solution to a rural water need I would be happy to offer some unconventional methods to help you achieve your goals.

All this talk about equipment forgets one key reason to exploit the ISO™ game. That is staffing. The city of Houston hired me to tell them how to get a better ISO™ grade and get the 4th man back on all of there companies that ran with 3 guys. The plan in now in place. I was able to locate 37 million dollars out of another budget that would funds a fourth firefighter to every fire apparatus forever, something even the mighty Tri-Data missed in their review of the community. In 2002 Houston will replace every fire truck and ambulance in their fleet, incorporate state of the art technology throughout and do it all within the existing budget. In a one year project Houston dropped from a Class 3 to a Class 1. Their score of 97.01 is the highest score ever attained in a rating. Their Class 9 and 10 un-hydranted county areas now have a Class 1 as well. Houston has 5 times the population and 11 times the area of than any other Class 1 city. In fact 26 of the 40 Class 1 population will fit inside simultaneously.

Ann Arbor was faced with the closing of a station, the elimination of a ladder company and reduction in staffing. I was told they are really set on moving forward, in fact it might be hopeless. I put together the ISO™ cost for the reductions which amounted to a 50 million dollar swing in insurance premiums. So what happen? No lay offs, no closings and no reductions. Here is an e-mail from a Union representative after the big city council meeting:

5/23/01

Just wanted to let you know that on Monday night the City council agreed to maintain 26 FF on duty per day staffing 8 companies. I have met with the Union and the Chief of Department regarding the data that you gave me. Both agreed that the ISO™ info that You provided was helpful in deterring cutbacks and closing companies.

Thanks again for your help.

Craig Ferris

AnnArbor FD, MI

I’ve made a number of real close friends in the process. With over 25 years of helping others with their ratings I’ve gathered confidential ISO™ paperwork that is not available to the fire service. I learn a little more after each rating I present to ISO™. The Field Procedures Manual numbers in the range of 600 pages to explain the 30 pages of the grading schedule that applies to the fire department. There are all kinds of substitution documents and memos detailing what is and what is not acceptable to ISO™. Unfortunately, reading from the grading schedule you’ll have no idea such things are available. Recently, I attended a disputed grade meeting in Texas. For three hours the little volunteers were told no matter what happens at the meeting no grade change could result. On numerous occasions we asked very pointed questions. Then out of the blue we pointed out their mistake, they denied it, then we showed them in their own paper work and the Class 5 was gone and the Class 4 was in place. Just part of dealing with a monopoly I guess. Of course we weren’t done. We questioned them again, with the vice president of ISO attending the next meeting and a Class 3 was achieved. During that meeting they invented a bunch of Larry Stevens rules to address the new ways I do things. So now it is easier for everyone to score better.

Most departments go into the next rating with little or no information on how they got there last rating. Rarely is the fire department officer who conducted the last evaluation still employed due to the 10 to 15 year inspection frequency. ISO™ will provide Improvement Statements and Classifications Details if you ask for them. Nothing in the grading schedule tells you there is such a thing. What the Improvement Statement doesn’t tell you is, it ignores your Class 9 areas. That is any area outside of 1000 feet from a fire hydrant. The generic answers in the Statements rarely point you in the right direction. For example: Hydrants should be within 300 feet for full credit. A hydrant costs $1000 to $3000 a piece. The cost of a load of big hose to get the same credit community wide is $6000 per rig. What makes more sense filling in dozens of hundreds or carrying enough big hose to make the lays? Hose is the obvious choice but you won’t find that in the Statements.

Choosing a Consultant

The first rule of getting advice is to ask the consultant what is the ISO™ rating of their department. Not just the city but also their rural areas as well. Don’t take advice from a Class 9 department. Most of the competition out there have Class 4/9 and 2/9 grades. Check to see where they’ve actually lowered both city and rural ratings using both hydrants and fire department supply. Have they done it lots of times? An expert in city ratings may be of no help to a community without hydrants. Can a paid firefighter relate to the volunteer world? In Houston we used rural water supply ideas to score Class 1 in water in a hydranted area, would a city guy have known how to accomplish that? Would the city guy know how to get Houston a Class 1 in their Class 9 and 10 areas without hydrants? Ask for a list of before and after grades from the consultant. Verify the list of references. Look for large drops of 5 to 7 class drops at one time. Have they earned any Class 1’s? Have they done it lots of times? Has the consultant demonstrated he can work within your budget as well as gather the funds outside the budget. Ask for a list of who got what and how long it took. If the consultant is a fire service expert ask the grades of the community where he resides or the department he belongs. Make sure the state the consultant is from uses ISO™ for example Washington does not use the same rating schedule as the rest of the country. If you intend to use your rates for justification for new apparatus, stations, staffing or water and communication system upgrades make sure the consultant will present his report to the your elected officials. Also ask where the consultant has been successful in getting the organizations new fleets of apparatus, stations, people and other upgrades. The consultant should be willing to help you get the grade he says is possible. The consultant should be willing to come back and present your department to the ISO™ and actually attain the grade he said was possible. Most consultants don’t want to be around when ISO™ is in town. Lots of consultants used to work for ISO™. That could be good or bad. Does an ISO™ guy know how to get you a grade or just know what scores what? Is he a firefighter or just a bean counter out of work from ISO? Odds are you will need a technician who can draw on lots of years of actually earning grades not tallying them. It is far easier for the consultant to tell the fire officials you should have done such and such, than to be there defending the department earning the grade. The most fun I have ever had is following another consultant who has told the FD, that if you are really lucky you can earn a Class 5 but their 100 square mile rural area will have to stay a Class 9 and come out at the end with a district wide Class 3. Many times the big chief in the county has warned my clients that it doesn’t work that way here you are just wasting your money, but a few months later they have the grade and the big cheese chief doesn’t.

So why did I write this document and distribute it for free? So other departments can put into action those processes that will save their citizens millions and offer better fire and rescue savings. I have no clue how many people have read or put this document to use but I seem to talk to or meet someone weekly. One chief called me when ISO was in town, we managed to make a few changes over the phones and now Monroe, Louisiana has a Class 1. If you’ve got anything to add to this book let me know I update this thing monthly. Note: If someone from ISO™ or elsewhere infers their system doesn’t work the way this book suggests, rest assured that ISO™ did it somewhere in the U.S. as I described. E-mail me and I’ll tell you where. Every effort has been made to share with you what ISO™ is reluctant to share. Please use and enjoy this document apply it to your own community. Feel free to contact me via email at isoslayer@aol.com or by phone at (800) 595-2600 or my cell phone (775) 224-0476. Regards,

Larry H. Stevens

It’s ISO™ Time!

It used to be every 10 to 15 years he’s back. Now it is every 30 months. The Insurance Services Office guy wants to pay the department a visit real soon. The whole idea of outside independent accreditation entering your organization and telling your mayor or council what kind of job you’re doing can be a real nightmare--especially if you don’t have your act together. When the rating is completed, the ISO™ will send the mayor or manager a breakdown of the new rating and, on request, an improvement statement and classification details. These could very well list dozens of embarrassing items where no records are on file.

Have you fed the elected officials the facts, or are they in for a surprise? I know of several departments this year that bought fully equipped half million dollar ladder trucks to lower their ratings and only got 16% credit for them. I’ve heard the old, “These nine new guys are going to really help lower our rating.” In fact, they won’t even be noticed.

This ISO™ thing is nothing more than an open book test with three chapters. Communications, water and fire department. You’ve had the book for 10 to 15 years since the last visit. What have you done with it?

Did you list the fire department and business phone numbers to the schedule? Do you have enough phone lines? Is there an automatic start on the backup generator? Do you keep a log book that proves you operate and maintain it? Are there enough operators? Is the communications system supervised? If not, the first 10 points might be wasted. The communications standard is written around the NFPA minimum standards.

Have you even made an effort to solve all the water problems the ISO™ located last visit? Did you set a correction plan in motion? If not, look out! Did you have a say in the size of the new wells or tanks? Do you know what you need? Is the water authority doing its own thing and leaving you out to dry because you don’t have a working relationship with the community’s best interests in mind? Do you have three years of biannual hydrant test and maintenance records? Are you installing the correct type of hydrants? If you don’t know the answers, check out the 30-pags of the rating schedule that applies to you.

If you don’t have much hydrant coverage, what have you done in the way of shuttles or long lays? I know a department that just finished attaining an ISO™ Class 3 without hydrants! An ISO™ 9 is nothing more than a brush truck, a very modest equipment list and four firefighters. An ISO™ Class 8B is the same thing with a 4,000-gallon tanker replacing the brush truck in all states. Place a station every 5 miles and equip it with a brush truck or a tanker and get an 8 or 9 instead of an unprotected 10! There are a lot of departments with 8s and 9s with much larger investments in equipment. The question needs to be why? If you’re going to make a larger investment, shoot for a 6 or 7! Set a goal and achieve it!

Does your department spend less time training per month than any of the local softball teams? No wonder your getting gigged. You need to average around 24 hours per month per firefighter for full credit. Do you have the training facilities listed in the schedule? Are pre-fire plans something that only exist in the classroom? No wonder command doesn’t know they have a fire in building with a basement until it’s too late! No wonder stuff stored in the truss space falls and kills firefighters. Of course you ran out of hose, the hydrant spacing does not follow the model codes. It has always been there, but no one is looking out for the home team. Do you have enough pumpers and reserves equipped to the schedule with pump capacity to meet the community fire flow requirements? Do you run a properly equipped ladder company or service company and have a reserve or an agreement for a reserve with another agency? Do you run two engines and a ladder company on all structure fires? Do your stations offer proper coverage of 1 1/2 miles for the first arriving engine and 2 1/2 miles for a truck? Do you conduct yearly pump, aerial and hose testing? Do you record it? If not, don’t expect much credit for the apparatus.

What about people? Do you average six paid or 18 volunteers per company on actual structure fire calls? If not, your organization is not big enough! In many communities, you’re going to need that staffing on a minimum of two engines and a truck. That is 18 paid and 54 volunteers actually responding--not total membership. At the very least, staff your rigs to the max.

I know there is a bunch of useless junk in the schedule like $400 hose jackets ($40 each through W.S. Darley) or simply carry a hose clamp for full credit, hose hoists (build your own), lots of pike poles and salvage covers. But having been part of a dinner put on by the U.S. Postal Service honoring a department after a post office fire, I can attest that you might just need the last two. We've all heard learned fire professionals tell us they are not driven by the ISO™ But there are no good excuses for a bad ISO™ rating when it is an open book test based upon national standards.

I guess we were lucky or prepared we dropped from a Class 5 city to a Class 1. Our rural area used to be a Class 9/10 now it is a Class 3.

It Doesn’t Really Matter?

Doing It For the People

A lot of people say ISO™ doesn’t matter anymore, but do you know that ISO™ writes the language on a majority of the fire insurance policies in this country? If you read your policy, it says the fire department can charge up to $500 to the insurance company for suppression costs on a residential fire. The good news is this does not affect homeowner rates. To collect, you will need a policy number, an insurance carrier and a standard form letter. Send the whole works to the carrier and collect your check. Who says ISO™ doesn’t matter? How many fires did your company respond to last year and not collect money that has been set aside to defer your costs? For fires in businesses, a standard charge of $1,000 to $5,000 will be indicated on the policy. You don’t have to take what is put aside for you if your department already has more money than it can use, though!

ISO™ doesn’t matter anymore! Try telling that to the businessmen and women in my community who know that a rate reduction of a 7 over an 8 on a $200,000 business is a savings of $760 a year. A drop from an ISO™ rating of 5 to a 4 is a another $420. That savings is every year for 15 years. Multiply the assessed valuation of the businesses in your town and you will get a pretty amazing number. If the fire department gets its records in order, conducts flow tests properly, equips to the minimum standard and goes along with the rest of the ISO™ program its one-time effort and existence for the next 10 to 15 years will ensure savings year after year.

ISO™ doesn’t matter anymore because State Farm pulled out of the ISO™ system. Try telling that to the chief of Rattlesnake, Colorado. Her carrier State Farm lowered her rates when she threatened to go elsewhere. Heck State Farm is just one company. All the rest follow ISO™ one way or the other. It should be every firefighters goal to help put State Farm out of business for not supporting better fire defenses.

ISO™ doesn’t matter anymore? Can you imagine the Mayor of Fernley, Nevada who found out he pays an extra $125 a month for fire insurance because he is a few hundred feet too far from a fire station? The ISO rating period to him has a value of $22,500. You can bet he was motivated to get another fully equipped fire station thrown up quickly.

ISO™ doesn’t matter anymore! Tell that to the homeowners in my town who talked to their insurance carriers and they told them a drop from their current ISO™ 9 to a 8 saves them $132 a year on their $100,000 frame home. Or a drop from an ISO™ 7 to a 6 is another $119 dollar a year savings. Go to your city or county offices and multiply the number of housing units by $132, $119 or both combined ($251 a year) like we have and see if you get any attention from the elected officials with your $18 to $26 million savings to taxpayers over the rating period.

Don’t be surprised if in 3 days they increase your capital outlay budget from $10,000 to $2,500,000 and ask you during a council meeting, “Are you sure it is enough? You don’t have to take low bid!” See if commissioners will walk up to the chief and say, “I want two new stations up in three months.” Being told sure beats asking! It happened in my town Fallon, Nevada. What a better plank to run on than looking out for the electorate? A volunteer Fire Chief friend in Dallas, Oregon had the city council give him an entire fleet of new fire apparatus after a favorable rating. His boss had just wanted to maintain their ISO™ 4 and ended up with a very low 2! Another friend had the public quintuple their fire district budget after dropping their rating 7 classes in one step.

In many communities the fire service is viewed as a bottomless gopher hole that the community pours money down. Isn’t it time to prove the value of the organization? Why do so many fire departments have “ ISO™ Class One, Two, Three or Four Fire Department” in big letters on each side of their apparatus? Even a department the size of Los Angeles City has Class One Fire Department painted on every unit (even though they are a Class 2) and it has lasted through dozens of chiefs and elected officials. Why is the ISO™ rating listed in almost every chamber of commerce community profile brochure? Independent accreditation has value! Isn’t it time to take the time to get what is coming to you?

It Doesn’t Work That Way Here!

What a week of, “it doesn’t work that way here.” It all started at dinner in Texas when the two most senior chiefs from the two largest departments in the county told the little Magnolia volunteer department nobody in this county can possibly move 250 gpm for two hours. They went on to say just take your ISO™ Class 9 and 10 and run. That is precisely what they were going to do. After all no other department in the state had ever earned a rural water supply grade. The concept was clear, they went to all the classes on the topic, it was impossible so don’t try.

So what’s the volunteer chief to do? Heck he was a many years from 30, what could he possibly know. One thing for sure the organization had been working without a master plan, it was time to make one. He also knew Granbury, Texas had just been awarded the impossible, a split grade of Class 3/6 (one of the top ten alternate water supply grades ever given.) In fact, all the new apparatus that department had ordered hadn’t even arrived yet so that grade would soon be falling further. In all the classes by the so called experts they were told split grades were impossible. So the impossible had in fact occurred in his state. That department used a consultant. It was obvious that it wasn’t the consultants first rodeo.

It wasn’t long before the naysayer’s started attacking what they were doing. How dare they map every single building in their several hundred mile county? It wasn’t going to make any difference in there grading. They pre-planned every public and commercial building. They knew the distance from every water point to any building. They even took photos of the ponds and made water supply point sheets. They also mapped the drive time from all 23 automatic aid and mutual aid fire stations in the region who would be likely to give a hand. They even knew what was on their apparatus. Their research led to determining the needed fire flow for every single building. With everything in a useable form on each rig a universal fire attack plan was created.

With that information apparatus spec’s could be drawn up to solve the fire problem. The Fire chief presented the plan to his elected officials and then moved at breakneck speed. The fact only 3% of the area had hydrants would not be a problem. The local experts said you need to put in dry hydrants the local FD said no we’ve got a better way. The ISO™ guys said three 1500 tankers is the way to go but the FD was going with 3000’s. Everyone told them elliptical and vacuum tankers were they way go not pumper tankers. Of course the ISO™ teachers couldn’t give an example at the regional classes of any department with a Class 5 or better using small tankers, it was just a theory. Over and over they heard you’re going to lose the town’s Class 6 rating if you keep messing around out in the rural area. The chief had the idea everyone pays the same for fire protection, why shouldn’t they receive equal protection?

Over the past year the chief and his band of doers and assistant movers and shakers had purchased an entire fleet of 13 apparatus within the existing budget. Offing a fleet of rigs mainly two to four years old. In many cases instead of taking the highest possible dollar offered they arranged terms so the surrounding FD’s could afford their perfectly good old rigs. Gone was the mismatched fleet of everything ever made under the sun. In its place was a 100% standardized fully equipped fleet designed specifically for the fire problems they faced.

When the new apparatus arrived the membership started proving their abilities. They discovered the pumper could in fact get a lift from a lake 350 feet from the rig with a vertical lift of 45 feet using soft hose in just four minutes. There was no need for hard suction hose or dry hydrant from most static sources. They proved that any lone firefighter from any station on any rig could lay 2250 feet of 5 inch hose at 35 mph and flow 1225 gpm in just 3 ˝ minutes. Two firefighters could stretch 4500 feet of hose in just 7 minutes flowing 1050 gpm. They also discovered turning the hydrant on while the pumper laid hose was the most effective means to speed operations and leaving a hydrant man was not a good idea.

Why were those distances so important? Because every commercial building was within those distances of two or more water points. Each arriving station could create flows from 1050 to 1750 gpm. There was no reason to shuttle when you could lay hose. After all, a 5 inch line was worth at least 5 tankers in shuttle. With fire flows to 4000 gpm the department set out to achieve all of them.

There were homes that would be beyond the hose laying abilities of the department. A shuttle would be used in those cases. Worst case a 1000 gpm shuttle would be used exceeding the residential fire flow requirements. Of course the experts made it quite clear you can’t fill a tanker very fast with all your 500 gpm hydrants. The members knew they had a way to fill the tankers at 1500 gpm from those hydrants. They knew their 250 gpm mini pumper could fill a tanker at 800 gpm. Many of the ideas they were using weren’t in the IFSTA books but worked perfectly. The goal from day one was to save every homeowner $500 a year on their $80 a year investment in fire protection services by attaining a better ISO™ rating. The department would not do anything that would not make them much more effective on the fire ground.

They found the new rigs could get a draft from a drop tank in less than 20 seconds with one firefighter versus the olds rigs 3 to 4 minutes with 2 to 3 guys. A pumper and a tanker from any station could arrive, place a drop tank, fill it, pull a 200 foot attack line, go to draft and flow water in less than 1 minute and 20 seconds with a crew of four. Each station worse case could sustain 400 gpm until the next station arrived to boost the flows.

As they talked with people who had scored well in rural grades in other states they found in many cases there is no brotherhood of firefighters surrounding you. Quite often just jealousy. It was clear you’re doing well was changing the status of someone else. The brotherhood was from other regions and states you’d never work with. The overwhelming theme was the rules for the test you are going to take are hidden and you have no access to them. In fact you’ll have a tough time finding anyone who ever passed the test. With those heart warming words it was D-Day.

It was clear going into their rating that no one in the state from ISO™ could do the grading so a team from 1500 miles away in Michigan would conduct the rating. It wasn’t long before three ISO™ inspectors arrived. On the coldest day of the year the department was out there laying hose at 35 mph, shuttle water, filling tankers and proving they could do what they said they could do. The inspectors made it clear they hadn’t ever seen many of the ideas employed and most were creditable.

All they wanted from day one was for the department to prove what they said they could do and then they wanted to measure it. One day they came in and said the literature on a certain device says you can only flow 400 gpm. The department asked can we show you? In actual use it flowed 1700 gpm. Not going outside and proving it would have been pretty expensive. The city portion of the rating everyone had warned the department about improved using rural water supply tactics of long hose lays to ponds and shuttles. In fact, if rural water supply evolutions were not used in town the Class 6 would have been a Class 8. The department was now able to supply any commercial building in town to capacity. That wasn’t the case or even close in the past.

There was some silliness that has to be mentioned. The departments brand new aerial ladder would not get full credit even though it was fully equipped. Why? It didn’t have three years of ladder tests. The fact if was impossible to have 3 years of ladder tests on a brand new rig didn’t seem to matter. ISO™ cannot trust a department that has its act together in every other record keeping area to do the right thing The same was true of all the new fire hose in the department. Life is really amazing. Working inside the ISO™ rules the department was able to prove that a supply line moving just 1000 gpm could in fact supply 1500, 1750 or 2000 gpm out the other end. That a 1500 gpm pumper could move 2400 gpm at draft 200 feet from a water point with a 30 foot lift and not use any hard suction hose.

There are hundreds of great ideas in the fire service that are not getting out to the departments who really need them. The Magnolia Fire department in Montgomery County Texas under the direction of Chief Mike Clack will be only the second department in Texas behind Granbury to earn a rural water supply grade. They broke with the norm and did what was right. They earned a district wide Class 3. What is really amazing they had a better score in water supply without hydrants and using volunteers than the mighty city of Houston. In fact, the Houston Chief lived in Magnolia. The city also had a Class 3! Need a place to start figuring out how to take on ISO™ and win? Start with the departments who are destroying the Grading Schedule and setting all time high scores.

From a Class 5 to a Class 1

The Frisco, Texas Fire department is a combination organization headed by Chief Mack Borchardt. It covers one of the fastest growing areas of Texas. Their thorough understanding of ISO™ rules made the difference of accepting their new Class 3 from their old Class 5.offered to them at the ISO™ exit interview and the Class 1 they were finally awarded. Rarely does any department drop five classes at one time, but Frisco did! With a population of 39,200 Frisco is one of the smallest communities to ever earn an Class 1. Only 42 community’s nationwide out of 44,870 have Class 1’s. Two of those are held by volunteer fire departments.

The Fire Chief made sure city officials recognized the economic benefits of a better rating and began upgrading the city’s infrastructure to meet the demands of rapid growth, beginning with the raising of water pressure in low-pressure water areas. New fire stations were built and apparatus added to speed response to emergencies. Career and volunteer firefighters staff the stations and train together regularly at the department’s training center. With the neighboring Plano having a Class 1 it was essential that Frisco have the same grade to compete for business. Commercial properties faced at least a 7% higher insurance burden to do business in Frisco over the neighboring city. A whopping 40% difference was being paid per residence. The cost city wide of doing nothing was $164,500 a month in excessive insurance premiums for homeowners.

The benefits to the citizens of a dropping from a Class 5 to a Class 1 in Frisco are as follows. When Frisco had a Class 5 rating a $225,000 home paid $522 a year for insurance. That same home today pays $317. That is a savings of $205 every year for the next 10 years. Ratepayers will save more than $2 million a year just for residential property.

The fire department currently saves the citizens more than $5 million a year on an investment of just $3.1 million dollars in fire protection services. The department returns more than it takes. Over the rating period the department will save the citizens at least $47.2 million dollars.

If you think going from a Class 5 to a 1 is something, Frisco much smaller neighbor Wylie dropped from a Class 6 to a Class 1 in one step.

RESIDENTIAL RATE CHART

Class Rate Savings Class Rate Savings

1 $1.41 0% 6 $2.81 -13%

2 $1.41 -26% 7 $3.22 –14%

3 $1.91 -14% 8 $3.73 -14%

4 $2.22 -5% 9 $4.27 -14%

5 $2.32 -7% 10 $4.81 0% Totals $3.40 -341%

*add $.90 for small mercantile

Source: Dwelling table A from the Texas Department of Insurance Bulletin B-0028-00, 1 year base fire rate per $1,000.00 of coverage for a wood frame home

COMMERCIAL RATE CHART

Class Cost Savings Class Cost Savings

10 $2504 0% 5 $1915 -3%

9 $2331 -7% 4 $1857 -4%

8 $2033 -13% 3 $1830 -2%

7 $1997 -2% 2 $1808 -2%

6 $1964 -2% 1 $1783 -1%

Totals $721 -28.7%

Source: According to the SCOPES Manual a $274,000 unsprinkled masonry wood frame 3 story restaurant would pay:

What is State Farm Up To?

State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (State Farm), the nation’s largest homeowners insurer, is proposing no longer use of ISO™ Public Protection Class(PPC) grades. This grade traditionally influences local premiums.

State Farm will be using its own loss experience to set rates. State Farm’s Mike Wey, vice president-underwriting says, “will allow the company to be more responsive to actual claim cost trends within a particular area, reduce operating costs and save customers money.”

Many fire departments have come to depend on PPC grades to encourage more spending on fire protection. But State Farm says, “good firefighting will continue to be reflected in State Farm’s rates.” In fact, Wey says, “it’s just as critical to the new rating factor.” “State Farm values good public and volunteer firefighting because it helps protect our policyholders and their homes,” he says. “Effective local fire protection will be reflected in our claim experience and thus our premiums.”

The Insurance Services Office (ISO™) is responsible for maintaining Public Protection Class grades. Wey says, State Farm appreciates the job ISO™ has done. “Without their work up to this point, we would not be able to take this step,” he says. The State Farm customers will not see a change in their premiums. This new factor will generally result in small premium decreases or increases for a few.

Geographic areas including zip codes with similar expected claim and expense costs will generally define the rating factor, which will use the local area’s insured loss history to predict future losses. State Farm says the new rating factor is already in place in almost every state The company hopes to implement it in other states, including Illinois over a period of months as regulatory approval is received.

State Farm writes 23% of the nation’s home insurance. In most cases, state legislatures decide the methodology employed to determine rates. In Texas for example there is a common percentage spread from top to bottom on all policies written in the state. All insurance policies start and end at a different dollar amounts but the difference remains constant in percentage terms. State legislatures and the market regulate business in the US. One carrier pulling out or trying to pull out of the ISO™ system isn’t likely to make any difference. What is a bit scary is there will be no way for the fire department to take constructive action to improve rates from the citizens of their community insured by a carrier who pulls out of the ISO™ system. Plus a small town with a large loss could effect the entire zip code region for years. Can you imagine the long term effects of a major wildland fire, earthquake, hail storm or riot?

State Farm has a long road in front of them trying to make each state legislature change their rules. We in the fire service need to focus on solving our local fire problem. Along the way we can successfully use ISO™ as a justification for larger budgets, additional firefighters, new apparatus, better water supplies and possibly hand a few million dollars back to the ratepayers.

Let’s not forget what State Farm executive vice president Don Sullivan published just a few short years ago, “We believe that homeowners who support improvements in fire protection through their tax dollars should be rewarded with lower insurance rates.” Let State Farm know you support their original position not a system of mixing you in with mediocre departments in your region.

There are far too many differences between the levels of fire services offered in this country to allow averaging via zip code or geography. For every department who has addressed their water supply challenges with large diameter hose and shuttles there are hundreds who have not. The same is true for cities running top flight properly equipped apparatus and those running junk. There are many towns who cannot staff a rig during the day running next to departments who properly man their apparatus. Training is non-existent one place and meeting national standards the next. Some how I doubt the Class 9 department has anything in common with the Class 4 department. Who wants to be averaged with the department down the road whose primary purpose is to be the local bar or social club? The whole concept seems un-American.

Is State Farms pull out of a few states the way of the future for the insurance industry? According to Dennis N. Gage of ISO™, “There is absolutely no truth to the statement that ISO™ is abandoning the Public Protection Classification program. On the contrary, we most emphatically proclaim our commitment to the 45,000 municipalities and fire districts throughout the United States and to the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry to continue the program as we continue to enhance it.

Your community benefits and will continue to benefit by participating in the program and so will the residents in your community whose insurance premiums are related to the quality of your community's fire-suppression capabilities. The insurance industry, which pays for this program, has long understood that better fire protection means better fire safety, lower fire losses and, of course, lower insurance premiums.”

ISO™ Differences Between States

Question: I moved from one coast to another to be fire chief only to find some interesting variations in the ISO™ grading schedule. Isn’t the Grading Schedule supposed to offer equality, the basis for all laws and standards?

Answer: The world is unfair. The good news is the rules coast to coast are 99.99% the same. Normally an ISO™ offers communities two ratings. One is based upon property within 5 road miles of a fire station and within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant. The other is outside of 1000 feet of a hydrant within 5 road miles of the responding station. Normally the second grade is a Class 9. Beyond 5 miles a Class 10 applies. However that isn’t always the case. New Jersey and Texas also credit a usable suction point as a fire hydrant where the rest of the states do not.

Only few hundred fire departments (mostly in Wisconsin and almost always volunteer) have proven they can shuttle or relay water and consequently have had the 1000 foot hydrant distance waved. Their hydrants are credited to 5 road miles from the responding station. One department offers a Class 1 community and a Class 3 rural area. Others offer Class 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, 6’s, 7’s and 8’s district wide. All departments have the option using Fire Department Supply (FDS) to get the same variance from the rules based upon witnessed flow demonstrations. For some reason even the most capable departments never attempt to get the better grade or exception to the rule.

In Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Illinois and Utah credit for a Class 9 dwelling goes to 10 road miles from a responding fire station. Where the majority of the U.S. gets 19.6 square miles of coverage per station whereas the listed states get 78.54 square miles per station.

Ohio holds the ISO™ rating to 5 miles and 6 road miles 28.2 square miles for dwelling properties.

West Virginia offers a Class 8 out to 6 miles if a hydrant is within 1000 feet. If the hydrant is further than 1000 feet a Class 9 applies out to 6 miles.

Wisconsin offers credit to 6 miles for Class 9’s.

Kansas offers a 5 and 10 mile Farm Property rating that no other state offers. In a nutshell if you have 500 gallons of water and meet all the Class 9 requirements you get 5 mile farm credit. If you have 1500 gallons of water carried on two rigs with 500 minimum per rig, a 250 gpm pump, the ability to transfer water to the pumper, a gated wye and carry 800 feet of additional fire hose over the Class 9 requirement you get 10 mile credit.

Six western states, Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Utah also get relief 43 other states do not receive. They do not have to move 250 gpm for 2 hours which requires a 30,000 gallon water supply like everyone else. They get the Western States Dwelling Class 8 that applies only to dwellings if they have 4000 gallons of water on wheels and a Class A pumper. The first unit must be no further than 5 miles from the property protected and the balance of the apparatus within 8 road miles. Five firefighters must respond. If they can provide demonstrate 200 gpm for 20 minutes beginning within 5 minutes of the arrival of the first fire apparatus and flow without interruption they earn a Dwelling Class 8. The Dwelling 8 applies from 0 to 8 road miles from the responding station a full 50.26 square miles versus 19.6 square miles for a department who can flow a lot more water. Those seven states also offer a Class 9 to cover where the 8 leaves off all the way out to 10 miles. Some insurance companies only require 2500 gallons for a Class 8 rating.

Some insurance companies offer a suburban rating to make up for the lack of Dwelling 8 offered in other states. It works like this. If a suburban risk is currently assigned to protection class 9 or dual protection classes (i.e. 4/9) and the risk meets all the following criteria, the risk may be rated using protection class 8 or the lower of the dual number classifications.

1. Risk is within 5 road miles of a responding fire department.

2. Risk is visible by at least four other homes;

3. Paved public roads lead to the risk;

4. Risk is accessible to fire equipment year round;

5. Responding fire department has a tanker truck carrying at least 2000 gallons of water;

6. Risk is less than 40 years old; and

7. Risk does not have a wood burner present.

In New Mexico a Class 8B exists that will be nationwide in 2002, that offers some of the benefits of a Dwelling Class 8. In 2002 it will go national. It recognizes rural fire protection services over a Class 9. A 8B means the department has some water hauling ability that is less than the 250 gpm requirement for 2 hours required for a Class 8 or better Eventually community loss statistics in these areas rated 8B could result in an insurance break. A 8B requires scoring 5 points in communications and 20 points in Fire Department. The department must respond with an average of 6 firefighters to structure fires. Conduct 24 hours of training per firefighter per year. The first out pump capacity has to be at least 250 gpm at 150 psi. The department must demonstrate the ability to flow 200 gpm uninterrupted for 20 minutes within 5 minutes of arrival of the first fire truck in 85% of the response area within 5 miles of the fire station. Automatic aid companies can be used.

North Carolina puts some big time requirements on a fire department to be a Class 9,or as they call it a Class 9S. Why? The state has a retirement system for volunteers. In order to qualify you must meet the states rules. Instead of requiring 4 firefighters for a Class 9 they require 20 personnel. Twelve on average must respond to the last 20 structures fires prior to the rating. Each substation must add 8 additional firefighters of which 4 on average must respond. They also require 48 hours of drills versus the rest of states 12 hours. They require weight tickets on the apparatus, current pump tests, monthly equipment checks and complete certified protective clothing. Instead of a brush truck with 50 gpm pump and 300 gallon tank requirement they insist on two pieces of apparatus one pumper with a 500 or larger pump and 500 gallon or larger tank. The second rig needs to be a tanker with a 1000 gallon tank. They want three 150 foot preconnected lines (two 1 ˝” and a booster or three 1 ˝” lines) with nozzles where as ISO™ elsewhere only wants 250 feet of any size hose to be carried and one nozzle. They also want a few items not on the Class 9 list used every where else: 4 air packs, two 10 foot hard suction hoses large enough to supply the pump to capacity, 100’ feet of ˝” rope, two shovels and a first aid kit. North Carolina shows they are serious about minimum capabilities of their fire departments. North Carolina grades communities every 5 years whereas the rest of the US is on a 10 or 15 year schedule. North Carolina rating cover 6 road miles from a station versus the normal 5 miles.

Louisiana has state rules that allow 3 bonus points for approved training and 2 points for prevention and education. In other words, they have a 05 point schedule. So a department who scores a class 3 but gets the extra points could end up with a Class 2.

Texas awards 5 points extra credit beyond the 100 point schedule training, adoption of a model fire code, in service inspections, staffing of the fire prevention and inspection offices, plans review, prevention, public education and arson investigation. Texas will soon add another 1.5 points for departments responding with a compressed air foam pumper on all structure fires.

If a Class 9 fire department is within 10 road miles they will receive a Crop Protection Class of 1. The units must be off road capable and the organization must have three apparatus two of which must be capable of pump and roll.

The excuse ISO™ uses for all the variations is those were the rules at the time they adopted the rating schedule. Texas adopted the schedule 2 years ago and is the only state with extra credit. Any of the above that do not apply in your state are costing your taxpayers dearly in increased fire insurance premiums. It is essential you let your state legislatures and insurance boards know that the playing field is not level. Demand the same benefits the other states enjoy. Make them pass the legislation. Every state can enjoy the above benefits if he elected officials want it.

Legislative Support

The state of New Mexico funds departments through the state fire marshal’s office based upon their ISO™ ratings. The incentive program should encourage departments to improve their ratings and lower insurance premiums in the community. For example in 2000, a Class 10 department gets $24,460 a year whereas a Class 1 department would get $58,245 per year plus @21,584 per substation. Albuquerque draws $423,741 yearly. Smaller cities like Roswell receive $161,871. Over $32 is budgeted yearly. How is all this funded? Through a hold back of fire insurance premiums paid in the state. Unfortunately only 50% of that is used by he fire service. The unused balance is returned to the state general fund.

Unfortunately you can lead a horse to water butt you can’t make him wash. One department has received over $500,000 and is still a Class 10. All that is needed to be a Class 9 is a brush truck and 4 firefighters and a place to park the vehicle. It seems obvious, if the fire service will not do the same thing then someone on the outside should mandate the use of the funds. The state does offer a two edged sword. They can shut down fire departments who do not perform.

So how well does the whole system work? There are 329 departments, of which 40 Class 10’s, 131 Class 9’s mainly in communities without water systems, three departments who’ve achieve rural water supply ratings via shuttles, a small number through hose lays and relays, 33 Class 8’s, and the best rating in the state is a Class 3. Let your state fire chiefs and firefighters associations and state legislatures get a load of the following distribution formula.

ISO™ MAIN SUBSTATION CLASS MAIN SUBSTATION CLASS

1 $58,245 $21,584 6. $41,007 $14,388

2 $53,957 $20,145 7. $38,848 $13,670

3. $49,641 $18,705 8. $36,691 $12,950

4. $45.323 $17,266 9. $27,338 $10,797

5. $43,164 $15,827 10. $24,460 None