This from Tom Podraza:
Downers Grove moved up from an ISO 2 to a ISO 1 as of April 16th. It takes effect July 1st 2015
Excerpts from the Village of Downers Grove website:
Fire Department Obtains Class 1 Public Protection Classification Rating On Thursday, April 16, 2015, the Village of Downers Grove Fire Department was awarded the highest Public Protection Classification by the Insurance Service Organization (ISO). Receiving a Class 1 designation now places the fire department in the top 1% of fire departments nationwide.
A community’s Public Protection Classification is based on the three main areas of a community’s fire suppression system: emergency communications, fire department (including operational considerations), and water supply. In addition, it includes a community risk reduction section that recognizes community efforts to reduce losses through fire prevention, public fire safety education, and fire investigation.
ISO is an independent company that serves insurance companies, communities, fire departments, insurance regulators, and others by providing information about risk. Property and business owners in communities with an excellent ISO rating, like Downers Grove, benefit from lower insurance rates.
Some interesting ISO grading facts:
- Grading scale ranges from 1 through 10 (1 is best)
- 48,855 fire departments have been graded nationally
- Only 97 departments have achieved Class 1 status
- 2,413 departments have been graded in Illinois
- The Downers Grove Fire Department is now one of only four Illinois departments with a Class 1 ISO rating.
#1 by Mike R on April 23, 2015 - 4:52 PM
Chief Smith -very well said. ISO is now referencing directly NFPA and AWWA per their website.
#2 by Mike on April 23, 2015 - 8:14 AM
What I am saying Drew is that charleston falsified a lot of documentation to obtain their class 1 rating. All ISO really is is a money making scam and unless it’s actually tied into other areas like nfpa and OSHA ineing a class 1 or class 10 means nothing. ISO is supposedly about the functionality of the department well don’t you think administration and management fall under that? They write the policies, determine responses and all other aspects of how the orginization will function. Function equals service provided to the residents.
#3 by Drew Smith on April 22, 2015 - 10:22 PM
By Charleston, I assume one means Charleston, SC where nine brothers died June 18, 2007 at the Sofa Super Store fire serving their community.
The Insurance Services Office (ISO) is in the business of assessing how well a fire department will do in limiting the financial loss inflicted by a fire. They do not assess the general management and administration of the FD nor any EMS component a FD may be involved with. It is also unfair to compare one community’s grading to another’s. Various demographic and risk factors impose more challenges to one community than another. For example, say you have to cities, both have a population of 50,000 but one is ten square miles and the other is 30 square miles in area (think of the difference in station distribution for each to achieve similar response times). Or another way is that two cities have the same square mileage to cover and similar populations but one is mostly single family homes with mostly strip malls while the other is mostly apartments or condos with a large industrial area (think different needed fire flows which affects how many fire companies are needed). There are many more area similar within the schedule.
More info about ISO can be found at http://www.isomitigation.com/ppc/0000/ppc0001.html
It should be noted that in 2012 ISO published a revised Fire Suppression Rating Schedule replacing a more than 40-year old version. The previous schedule awarded points to the Receiving and Handling of Alarms (10 percent), Water Supply (40 percent) and the Fire Department (50 percent). The new schedule is similar but now includes a new section on “Community Risk Reduction” (traditionally fire prevention: Inspections, Public Education, and Fire Investigation).
In my opinion, fire departments should pay attention to ISO and understand the implications of not doing their best in preparation for a grading. Doing so removes some obstacles to success but not all of them and those who simply “color inside the lines” will not succeed in the big picture.
#4 by Mike on April 22, 2015 - 8:38 PM
ISO class 1 doesn’t really mean anything, look at charleston. They were a class 1 department.
#5 by Markus on April 22, 2015 - 2:19 PM
Michael I know that ISO changed some of the stuff and I heard that they wanted Arlington Heights to add a station and tower ladder. Not sure if it true but that is what I heard through the grape vine
#6 by Michael M on April 22, 2015 - 2:09 PM
How does a department that was once a ISO class 1 lose that classification?
#7 by m21 retired on April 22, 2015 - 1:59 PM
Mokena FPD recieved Class 1 rating last August.
#8 by MABAS 21 on April 21, 2015 - 11:26 AM
Oak Lawn lost their’s a few years ago, hence it’s no longer displayed on their apparatus.
#9 by Markus on April 21, 2015 - 10:58 AM
I believe Arlington Heights is no longer an ISO 1
#10 by Brian on April 21, 2015 - 10:57 AM
According to this – https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?msa=0&mid=zO-B5ZQ-JnpE.koz6uutPw1w4
Illinois would now have 5 Class 1 departments. Not sure which department dropped but according to this they were Lisle-Woodridge FPD, Skokie, Arlington Heights and Oak Lawn
#11 by Brian on April 21, 2015 - 10:54 AM
Lisle and Skokie I believe are two of the other three
#12 by Michael M on April 21, 2015 - 9:56 AM
What other Departments in Illinois are Class 1?
#13 by FARTIN' FRED on April 21, 2015 - 9:31 AM
The pizza that Patrick Kane brought them was well-deserved.