Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

In a press release, Rutland-Dundee Fire Protection District Fire Chief Richard Thomas said the department’s Insurance Service Organization (ISO) rating has gone from a 4 to a 2.

The 2 rating awarded to Rutland-Dundee has been achieved by only 2.76 percent of fire departments throughout the nation, according to 2015 numbers. Of the 48,632 fire departments rated by ISO, only 1,343 have received a rating of 2 or better.

“Our firefighters and officers have worked hard to address all of the intricacies associated with the rating system and to identify how our resources can best be used to assure the biggest return on the investment made by taxpayers,” Thomas said. “This rating is also dependent on the performance of organizations beyond our department. A big factor in this rating was the commitment of the Village of Sleepy Hollow and the Village of Gilberts to upgrade their water systems.”

He also credited Quadcom 911 — the district’s dispatch center — and its board for helping achieve the rating.

The ISO rating is based on a wide variety of factors that assess how a fire department’s capabilities curtail the risk of loss by fire, explosion or other casualty, as well as the level of training received by department personnel, the type and condition of firefighting equipment, and the reliability and availability of a water supply for firefighting purposes.

Response times, which are dependent on the placement and availability of firefighting personnel and the location and staging of firehouses and equipment in relation to the structures they protect, is also factored into the rating.

Tags: Fire Chief Richard Thomas, Insurance Service Organization, Rutland-Dundee Fire Protection District, Rutland-Dundee FPD improves ISO rating