Excerpts from the VAH.com:
Arlington Heights Fire Department Receives Top Rating of ISO Class 1
OCTOBER 5, 2016
The Arlington Heights Fire Department has received the Insurance Services Office (ISO) top rating of Class 1. ISO is the insurance industry’s leading source of information about property/casualty risk. In general, fire insurance premiums are lower for communities with top ISO ratings.
The ISO Class 1 rating has been achieved by less than 200 of 47,000 fire departments nationwide, 1/3 of 1%.
“ we are thrilled to receive this very prestigious rating,” said Fire Chief Ken Koeppen. “Our firefighters are dedicated, well-trained and committed to being the best.”
In addition to evaluating the fire department’s training, apparatus, and response capabilities, ISO also assesses water supply, dispatch operations, and fire prevention programs.
ISO’s assessment of Northwest Central Dispatch System’s capabilities also contributed to the Class 1 rating. NWCDS provides emergency dispatching services for the village from its communications center that is considered one of the best in the nation.
The ISO Class 1 rating is a confirmation of the Arlington Heights Fire Department’s dedication to its mission to protect lives and property, and to its motto, “Committed to Excellence.”
#1 by Scott on October 14, 2016 - 3:37 PM
The Squads are 2 men. One at Station 1 (south of tracks), 1 at 2 (north of tracks). They are medium duty and have extrication equipment. They respond as primary EMS assist apparatus for their districts, added on accidents and fires. Last I knew Engine 3 had some extrication equipment, and possibly some other apparatus (AHTS used to use Holmatro and I believe they still do).
The article copied above is from many years ago. Since then NWCD has completely changed their dispatch system and it does show immediately if a station received a call.
Tower 25 for District 4 is actually the primary truck do instead of Tower 1.
As you can see by the article, ISO really isn’t’ a valid tool to show how competent or capable a fire dept is. When they are worried about dispatching, emergency generators, hose clamps and siamese fittings on apparatus that doesn’t show how well you can actually do the job and serve the community!
#2 by Bill Post on October 10, 2016 - 11:54 AM
Mike aren’t the squads in Arlington Heights also used for rescue runs like pin ins? They seem to be large enough to carry some heavy rescue equipment. I know that they have been using light-duty squads for a long time however the ones they are using now seem to be larger then the average ems type squad. I know there are some fire departments that carry spreaders on engines also however if you notice the cabinets and the elongated bodies it appears that the Arlington Heights squads would carry more then just EMS gear.
#3 by Mike on October 10, 2016 - 12:12 PM
I think both squads and the tower carry hurst tools.
#4 by Bill Post on October 10, 2016 - 12:15 AM
So Sebastian were they downgraded to a Class 2 in 2009 ? When was the latest iISO study done that up graded their ISO rating. Are there any plans for fifth Station? If so where are they looking into building a fifth station If I’m correct Buffalo Grove Tower 25 is considered to be a second Truck on the North End of town correct?
I noticed that the way Arlington Heights is laid out that the north end of town in Engine 4’s district the town goes pretty far north where it actually crossed over Dundee road and goes as far as Lake Cook rd and goes past the Buffalo Grove High School and seems to go as far as Long Grove. It almost seems that Buffalo Grove and perhaps Long Grove might be able to beat Arlington Height into the north end of town where the village goes north of Dundee rd and west of Arlington Heights rd.
Does Arlington Heights keep a 3 man minimum on the Engines and the Truck company? An interesting fact is that Arlington Heights runs with 2 Squads that are located next to each other. Are the Squads 2 man companies?
#5 by Mike on October 10, 2016 - 7:41 AM
Bill BG tower 25 is usually the 1st truck in 4’s area. I know tower 1 is staffed with 4 and most days engine 4 has 4 since they may or may not get a truck depending on BG or even their own trucks availability. Palatine tower 85 does go into AH at times too. The squads are in districts 1 & 2 and are supposed to relieve the engines and truck from ambulance assists. The engine or truck will go on multiple ambo responses and cardiac arrests as additional manpower. The department runs almost 10,000 runs a year and with their staffing model really seem to have it together.
#6 by Sebastian on October 9, 2016 - 10:19 PM
The previous post is from the daily herold its an article on their loss of rank
#7 by Sebastian on October 9, 2016 - 10:18 PM
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Arlington Heights residents are just as safe and will not pay higher insurance premiums, said Fire Chief Glenn Ericksen, but losing the top rating once given the department is disappointing.
The opinion about insurance premiums was seconded by the president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois.
Instituting changes required to keep the prized Class 1 rating from a private organization called the Insurance Services Office Inc. would be so expensive that residents would be even more displeased, said Ericksen.
The village would have to add a fifth fire station and at least 24 firefighters, said Village Manager Bill Dixon, and that is unattainable in the current financial climate. However, he said the village is doing everything reasonable to raise its numerical score.
In 1997 the ISO gave the village a 1 rating. A note to that effect is still on the village’s Web site. That’s because the new 2 rating – which in the draft report fell almost to a 3 – has not been finalized, said Dixon. The organization studied the village in 2008 and issued the preliminary report a year ago in January 2009.
Homeowners and small businesses should see “absolutely no difference, zero, zero, zero,” said Luke Praxmarer, president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois.
And even the largest Arlington Heights buildings or concerns should see the tiniest premium increases or none at all, said Praxmarer, who is a partner in Corkill Insurance of Elk Grove Village.
In fact, he said his research shows that ISO ratings from 1 to 4 are very good. The ratings are one factor insurance companies use to set premiums.
State Farm Insurance, which calls itself the largest insurer of homes in the country, uses its own experience for underwriting and no longer uses ISO, said Missy Lundberg, a spokeswoman.
ISO officials were reluctant to answer specific questions. However, the company released a chart showing five communities in Illinois have Class 1 rankings and 56 have Class 2. The numbers climb steadily, with 642 departments at Class 6. In the draft report given the village, ISO says there are 10 classes, with Class 10 not meeting minimum requirements.
In a letter to the ISO that Ericksen provided the Daily Herald, the chief pointed out improvements made to the department between 1997 and 2008. These include getting firefighters to fires more quickly, hiring an additional 18 firefighters, replacing two older fire stations with new ones that have full backup emergency power, and replacing four older fire engines and an older ladder truck.
A response from Chuck Zydek, community mitigation manager for ISO, said development in Arlington Heights during the decade required the additional firefighters and equipment. Perhaps a mutual aid agreement for an additional ladder truck could improve the score at a lower price, said Zydek’s letter.
It also acknowledged that the ISO uses distance rather than response times to evaluate where equipment and firefighters should be. Ericksen said ISO also has changed the way it measures distance, which hurts the Arlington Heights rating.
“We as a village want to get from point A to B as quickly as possible,” he said.
Ericksen said the department’s goal – which it exceeds – is to respond to building fires and ambulance calls in six minutes or less 90 percent of the time. And ISO has no interest in ambulance calls, he said.
Arlington Heights lost points because the Northwest Central Dispatch, which serves nine area communities plus a few other departments, does not have a system to automatically tell the dispatcher if there is a problem with the communication to a station. Instead the dispatcher alerts the station by radio and by cable-based backup. Instituting the automatic warning would be very expensive, but it will be discussed in the future with other partners in the communication system, said Dixon and Ericksen.
The village has automatic aid agreements with most neighboring communities, said Ericksen.
Arlington Heights has also had improvements in emergency communications and water service over the last decade, and both these systems are considered in the rating system, he said. Downtown redevelopment impacted the score, he said, noting those new, tall buildings have sprinkler systems.
“The village is trying to be practical and financially prudent. It’s disappointing, but Class 2 is still an excellent rating,” said Dixon.
Ericksen, though, called the rating a slap in the face.
“The 1 rating was a point of pride for the department and the community,” he said. “We worked so hard over these last 10 years to improve the level of service we provide the community. This is a hard message to send back to them.”
#8 by Sebastian on October 9, 2016 - 10:12 PM
Gentlemen, prior to this certification, they were droped to a class 2. This time around they recertified as class 1
#9 by Bill Post on October 9, 2016 - 7:53 PM
They were a Class One fire department but it just means that they were recertified.
#10 by ffpm571 on October 8, 2016 - 11:13 PM
thought they were an ISO1 ?