Excerpts from the dailyherald.com:
The Elk Grove Village Fire Department has received a Class 1 designation from the Insurance Services Office through its Public Protection Classification program, placing it among the top 1% of all fire departments in the country.
Of the more than 46,000 fire departments evaluated across the nation, only 498 — including 29 in Illinois — have achieved a Class 1 designation. The department also is one of 118 agencies worldwide with both an ISO Class 1 and Accreditation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
The rating and fire department evaluation is based on factors such as the department’s training, apparatus and response capabilities, as well as water supply, dispatch operations and fire prevention programs.
The new rating is available to insurance companies, which may use ISO information to establish insurance premiums for residential, commercial and industrial property insurance rates.
#1 by Mike on November 3, 2023 - 6:26 PM
Jim I enjoy this discussion also, and yes Mike C. This is good dialogue. Maybe we as the fire service need to advocate more with affiliates: IAFF, IAFC, NVFC and the insurance companies to get ISO to actually mean something. Another example about is departments running with only 2 people in the fire house staffing multiple apparatus. 2 person jump companies. Again this isn’t staffing, and they shouldn’t get credit for this. Maybe we need to start getting civilians to sue fire departments for damage when their house burns down because a department didn’t have staffing to be able to complete the tasks as list d in 1710 or 1720, whichever the department choose to adopt. Right now there is no penalty to the department for understaffing. The only penalty is the resident who gets to watch the circus as their house burns down.
#2 by Jim on November 3, 2023 - 3:37 PM
Mike,
Great questions. In the case of Crystal Lake, they would need to show their CAD reports showing all those companies did indeed respond. I would suspect the could not. You bring up staffing at less than 3 on fire apparatus not counting. Part of the NIST studies on staffing looked at staffing levels with different distances. I believe 2 person companies in close proximity were equal to or less than further proximity 4 person companies. However, the suburbs choose to have more stations with less people in closer proximity. In this case, Elk Grove Village bucked the trend by combining two stations into 1. I think many more would benefit from combining staffing into less stations but having double companies in a single house. I don’t think ISO is perfect by any means but they do make you substantiate your claims. Can you substitute your staffing through automatic aid, maybe but only through strong agreements with combined SOG’s.
#3 by Mike C on November 3, 2023 - 6:55 AM
Some good dialogue here. Jeff Marino raises an interesting point. I don’t think it’s uncommon for fire department administrators to be dishonest to get a better ISO rating.
I believe St. Charles is a class 1 too.
While the ISO rating might have some flaws, I can personally attest to many of the 29 departments in Illinois being well deserved of the Class 1 rating.
#4 by Mike on November 2, 2023 - 10:36 PM
Jim thank you for explaining this. Overall it’s still not a legit system. Some places are are so busy that counting the ambulance crew as manpower isn’t possible. Take crystal lake for example. They’re gonna run 7500 runs this year. They run 3- 2 man engines, 3- 2 man ambulances and a 2 person jump company for a 4rh ambulance, tower ladder, tender. How do you figure that manning for ISO. Anything under 3 people per apparatus you shouldn’t get credit for it because it’s not a functional company. ISO has problems, not to bag on another department but we all remember Charleston, they were a class 1 department and we saw how that played out in real time and in the reports afterwards.
#5 by Jim on November 2, 2023 - 7:42 PM
Mike,
I just went through a grading. Staffing is the largest number of points for the fire department point of your grade at 15 points. ISO expects 6 people per company and depending on your fire flow, the total # of people is usually 24 ( 3,000 gpm fire flow needed is 3 engines and 1 ladder/service company). This can be accomplished by having personnel riding on additional engines and ambulances or through automatic aid but not mutual aid as you stated. So if you are running 3 on an engine and 2 on an ambulance, this can be counted as 5 personnel. This must be backed up by minimum staffing policies and CAD reports. You must provide documentation of any automatic aid agreements you may have along with response time data from a CAD. Fire flow is a very important factor to the number of personnel you may need. There are two standards that can be utilized for engine and ladder/service companies, the ISO standard or a deployment analysis utilizing NFPA 1710 metrics.
#6 by Jeremy B. on November 2, 2023 - 6:23 PM
ISO seems like a bragging/pride thing for departments more than anything at this point. You can feel accomplished and externally validated as better than others and stroke the ego a bit.
I’m fairly confident in saying that no insurance company at this point will largely base fire insurance rates on ISO ratings. State Farm (the largest insurer in the US) doesn’t use it at all apparently, while others might include it in their formulas at some kind of weight. State Farm, for example, uses actual loss data from the zip code on previous claims, along with demographics, data from areas with similar demographics, and credit scores. I’m sure they have some method and data that makes them happy and confident with their assessments.
#7 by Mike on November 2, 2023 - 1:49 PM
Pat, you are correct. ISO isn’t about staffing, it’s about documentation and vehicles. If ISO were to actually revamp their process and make staffing an actual part you would see a lot of departments lose their ratings. Just like departments that rely heavily on mutual aid to supplement their lack of equipment and staffing. ISO is so worried about communication, water supply maintenance and training, but there is nothing about staffing.
#8 by Pat on November 2, 2023 - 12:23 PM
Tim, so a fire department can be rated ISO 1 if they jump between an ambo and a fire apparatus? If that is true, then ISO 1 doesn’t mean what I thought it used to. If the crew is on an ambo run, then the fire rig is OOS due to jumping to the ambo, how can that be ISO 1? interesting
#9 by Kevin Griffin on November 1, 2023 - 7:37 PM
Tinley Park and Lisle Woodridge are also class 1
#10 by Tim on November 1, 2023 - 5:11 PM
When ISO awards a class 1 to depts. that runs 3 man jump companies, they lost all credibility.
#11 by Jeff Marino on November 1, 2023 - 12:30 PM
Sebastian, how am I am arm chair qb? I am simply stating facts….
#12 by Sebastian on November 1, 2023 - 12:06 PM
Jeff you should apply to be chief in des plaines if you think you can do better.. arm chair qb1
#13 by Jeff Marino on November 1, 2023 - 11:37 AM
Des Plaines is a class 1 but it should be noted that they should not be. The chief was not truthful in updating what apparatus he has in service on the front line. Their rating will go down once he decides to tell the truth about taking a tower out of service and running the department with 1 less FF/pm per shift.
#14 by Ryan on November 1, 2023 - 11:19 AM
Off the top of my head, here are some of the Class 1’s:
-Manhattan, Kankakee, Bloomingdale, Evanston, Hillside, Arlington Heights, Orland, Downers Grove, Carol Stream, Des Plaines.
#15 by Rich on October 31, 2023 - 5:54 PM
Who are the 29 departments in illinois. That are isolated class 1??
#16 by Mike on October 31, 2023 - 12:47 PM
Elk Grove is a great department. They have good staffing, good apparatus and labor, management and the village all get along. It’s a crazy concept but it works when it happens.