Excerpts from the cityofevanston.org:
The Evanston Fire Department has achieved the highest possible rating for fire protection services from an insurance industry advisory company.
Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) awarded the department a Class 1 designation through its Public Protection Classification (PPC) program, which assesses communities’ fire protection efforts. The department’s new rating, which is an improvement from its previous Class 2 designation, will take effect on October 1, 2018.
ISO has evaluated the fire protection services of more than 46,000 fire departments across the nation. Only 305 nationwide, including 16 in Illinois, have achieved a Class 1 designation, placing the Evanston Fire Department in the top 1 percent of all fire departments in the country.
ISO’s Public Protection Classification review is conducted by expert ISO staff on a five-year cycle, and includes site visits, records examination and observation. Four major areas are evaluated: fire department operations, water supply, emergency communications and community risk reduction. Using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule, ISO analyzes the data and then assigns a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program doesn’t meet ISO’s minimum criteria.
By classifying communities’ ability to suppress fires, ISO helps communities evaluate their public fire-protection services. The PPC program provides an objective, nationwide standard that helps fire departments in planning and budgeting for facilities, equipment and training. And by securing lower fire insurance premiums for communities with better public protection, the PPC program provides incentives and rewards for communities that choose to improve their firefighting services. In general, the price of insurance in a community with a good PPC is lower than in a community with a poor PPC, assuming all other factors are equal.
#1 by MABAS 21 on August 20, 2018 - 9:06 PM
Add Plainfield
#2 by Bill Post on August 20, 2018 - 7:31 PM
Thanks for the list Drew. Check number’s 12 and 16 they are duplicates.
#3 by Drew Smith on August 20, 2018 - 10:31 AM
ISO sells that list to insurance companies so it is not publically available. Based on info from the State Fire Marshal and this site there are 17 in Illinois:
1) Arlington Heights
2) Bloomingdale
3) Champaign
4) Chicago
5) Downers Grove
6) Evanston
7) Hillside
8) Lisle-Woodridge
9) Mokena
10) Northbrook
11) Orland
12) Skokie
13) Springfield
14) St. Charles
15) Westmont
16) Skokie
17) Tinley Park
#4 by Daniel Hynd on August 19, 2018 - 11:03 PM
Lisle-Woodridge and Downers are also Class 1.
#5 by Bill post on August 19, 2018 - 9:56 PM
Rich this list is probably incomplete but these are the Class 1 departments that I know of; Skokie, Evanston, and Arlington Heights regained their Class 1 rating in 2016 after losing it in 2010. They first got it in 1997 to my understanding. Springfield lost their Class 1 rating after they didn’t comply with some recommendations however they are now a Class 1 fire department once again. I also understand that Champaign has a Class 1 rating. I’m pretty sure Oak Lawn lost their Class 1 that they had at one time. Believe it or not less then two years ago Chicago got a Class 1 rating when for many years they were a Class 2 fire department.
Since the rating system was revised a few years ago there could be a few more Class 1 fire departments.
#6 by Rich on August 19, 2018 - 10:49 AM
What departments are class 1. In Illinois? That are current????
#7 by Bill Post on August 19, 2018 - 4:48 AM
Drew, I’m sure you know that since the standard was first issued additional structural fire standards have been added such as a Garden Style apartment, an open air strip mall, and a high-rise building response. The original standard for a single-family dwelling was in my opinion very limited as that dwelling was without a basement and had no exposures.
To be realistic there are very few if any single-family dwellings in the Chicago area that don’t have basements and most tend to also have exposures so it seemed to be quite inapplicable for the Chicago area.
I can definitely see the value of response time for the 1710 standard in terms of arrival time for the first engine and the complete still or first alarm response. One concern that I have is that it allows the first truck to arrive at the last minute of the response cycle and I think it would make more sense to have the arrival of the first truck company just like the first engine.
With the ISO road mile standard of 2.5 miles for the nearest truck, loosely translated, the first truck should arrive about 2 minutes after the first engine based on traveling one mile in 2 minutes. It is generally agreed that based on the ISO standard of 1.5 miles the nearest engine would have a 3 to 4 minute drive and the truck would arrive about 2 minutes later with a 5 to 6 minute drive based on the 2.5 mile standard. So it would make sense to set a standard to have the first truck arrive 2 minutes after the first engine and then let the second companies arrive by 8 minutes.
So while the drive time standard of 8 minutes makes sense for the second companies it seems to be lowering the standard for the first truck to arrive on the scene.
#8 by Drew Smith on August 18, 2018 - 10:03 PM
Short answer is yes, those travel distances are still in the FSRS.
Long answer: Use of an NFPA 1710 deployment analysis is permitted. Under this, if the first engine arrives within 320 seconds 90 percent of the time and the balance of the first alarm arrives within 560 seconds 90 percent of the time then the actual road miles traveled are irrelevant.
Having undergone an ISO grading recently (we are awaiting our score) it seems the deployment analysis is preferred by ISO.
#9 by Bill Post on August 18, 2018 - 7:58 PM
Thanks for the interesting information Drew. Is the 1.5 mile for an Engine and 2.5 mile for a Truck company (maximum road mile distance) in built upon areas still in the current ISO standards?
#10 by Jim on August 17, 2018 - 8:27 PM
Oak Lawn Fire Department was awarded an ISO Class 1 in 1993.
#11 by Drew Smith on August 17, 2018 - 12:13 AM
In 2012 the ISO Fire Suppression Rating Scale (FSRS) was revised for the first time in over 30 years. In 2013 ISO began using it to grade FDs. Since that time the number of Class 1 departments has risen from well below 100 to more than 300 nationwide. When the FSRS was revised there was a change from a maximum total points of 100 to a current maximum of 105.5 points. The additional 5.5 points come primarily from two new sections: Operational Considerations and Community Risk Reduction. For most departments, many of the points in these sections are easily attainable if you have and use an incident command system, have SOPs/SOGs, and have an active fire prevention/public education/fire investigation program with trained members and current fire codes.
From ISO’s website: “The Community Risk Reduction section of the FSRS offers a maximum of 5.5 points, resulting in 105.5 total points available in the FSRS. The inclusion of this section for “extra points” allows recognition for those communities that employ effective fire prevention practices, without unduly affecting those who have not yet adopted such measures. The addition of Community Risk Reduction gives incentives to those communities who strive proactively to reduce fire severity through a structured program of fire prevention activities.”
In addition, some deletions from the old schedule include more realistic equipment inventories (no need for hose jackets, no penalty for not having a Bangor ladder, for example), that hydrant testing need only occur annually versus semi-annually, and that company training is reduced from 24 hours to 18 hours a year and night drills aren’t required, to name a few.
With the older, less relevant requirements removed or modified many excellent departments are moving up, in my opinion.
ISO https://www.isomitigation.com/ppc/
#12 by Bill Post on August 16, 2018 - 1:36 AM
It’s good to see the Evanston Fire Department get a Class 1 rating however I have a question. Skokie, Evanston’s neighbor to the west was one of the first departments in the Chicago area and in fact Illinois to get a Class 1 rating. Skokie has had it since 1995. Every 4 to 5 years that rating is reviewed and they have been able to maintain it for 23 years.
My question is what has the City of Evanston or their fire department done differently over the last few years to get a Class 1 rating when it has had a Class 2 rating for quite a while?
As the ISO review consists of three components; the fire department, the water supply, and the alarm system, perhaps it was the water supply or the alarm system that was up graded? Evanston has been maintaining five stations with five engines and two trucks with three-man crews for a long time. The town is well covered as far as ISO standards go. The only major difference that I can think of is that Station 1 was relocated from downtown to the near west side around the late 1990s. So what is the fire department doing differently? Ambulance 23 is still a jump company at Station 23 however I don’t believe ambulance coverage is a factor in the ISO ratings. All five engines are ALS companies however.
#13 by Max O on August 15, 2018 - 12:03 AM
Now if only they would start riding with four instead of three