ISO's Public Protection Classification gives a community a class from 1 to 10 for its fire protection, and insurers use it. It looks at four things, and only one of them is your department. Put a plain page on your site that says your class, what it covers, and who to call, and keep your training and equipment records in a shape a survey can read.
What the rating is
ISO, part of Verisk, runs the Public Protection Classification program. It assigns a class from 1 to 10. In ISO's words, "Class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area's fire suppression program does not meet our minimum criteria."
Insurance companies use the class when they set fire premiums for homes and businesses. What any one household pays depends on the insurer, so do not tell residents a class will save them a particular amount. Tell them what the class is and let their agent do the math.
It rates the community, not only the station
This is the part residents miss. ISO says its survey is an on-site look at the emergency communications system, the fire department and the water supply. Its program page names a fourth area, community fire risk reduction. So the class reflects four things:
| What ISO looks at | Who usually owns it |
|---|---|
| Emergency communications | The dispatch center or county |
| Fire department | You |
| Water supply | The water district or utility |
| Community fire risk reduction | You, and the code office if there is one |
That is why two departments with the same crews and trucks can sit in different classes. The water main on one street may be the difference. It is also a useful thing to say out loud on your site, because it moves the conversation from "why is your rating bad" to "which part can we improve, and who do we ask".
The records are the slow part
ISO's own newsletter says fire departments keep records for response reporting, call processing, inventory, training, equipment maintenance and prefire planning. It adds that the survey "requires accurate information", and that training in particular needs "significant records" for full credit. It also admits that no single system captures every data point, so most departments end up with several.
The newsletter does not give a number of hours or a test interval, so we will not either. The point for a small department is simpler. If your training log is a binder in the chief's truck, find that out now and not the week a survey is scheduled.
A page for your website
Five lines cover it. Write them as plain text, not a graphic of your rating letter.
- Your current class, and the year you last heard it confirmed.
- One sentence on what the class is: a 1 to 10 grade of the community's fire protection, used by insurers.
- The four areas above, so residents see the water supply is not yours.
- A line telling people to ask their insurance agent about their own premium.
- A phone number or email for questions, with a real person behind it.
If you do not know your class, ask your county or your insurance carrier. ISO also lists a mitigation specialist line at 1-800-444-4554 on its survey page for questions about the program.
Why I am writing this
I build websites for fire departments, so the part about having a page is where I have an interest. It is still true without me. Any page you can edit will do, and a page that answers a question once beats answering it forty times.
If your site is hard to edit, or nobody has the login, that is the gap I fill. A sibling problem is people not applying at all, which we covered in why nobody is applying to your volunteer fire department.