Menu
City improves safety rating
The Nevada Fire Department was recently evaluated by the Insurance Services Office and received an improvement on a rating insurance providers use to help determine homeowner’s insurance premiums.
“We went from a 4 to a 3,” fire chief William Thornton said.
ISO rates fire departments on a 10 to 1 scale with 1 being the best. According to the Verisk/ISO website — www.verisk.com — more than 47,000 fire protection areas across the United Station receive an ISO rating.
Nevada Fire Department joins 3,460 other Class 3 department across the United States. Fewer departments receive a better Class 2 rating — only 1,393. Only 270 fire departments nation-wide qualify for the coveted Class 1 rating.
Thornton said Nevada Fire Department has been a Class 4 since he started in 1993 and the department rating was last reviewed in 2007.
“The biggest hit we have is staffing and station location,” Thornton said. “We have one station and minimum staffing.”
Nevada Fire Department maintains a full-time staff of 13. As chief, Thornton typically works during the day Monday through Friday but responds during the evening or at night in case of a serious emergency.
The other 12 full-time staff are spread evenly across three 24-hour shifts with each shift typically consisting of a captain, lieutenant, driver/engineer and firefighter. Off-duty firefighters report to the station in the event of a building fire or other serious emergency.
He explained that including the four firefighters on shift, an average of nine responded to structure fires.
“That gives you two engines and a ladder … the bare minimum,” Thornton said.
He explained that for Nevada to receive a lower ISO rating, a second fire station would have to be built and additional firefighters hired.
Thornton said ISO looks at three different areas when determining a fire department’s rating.
“First and foremost is the fire department, that makes up 50 percent of the [rating],” he said. “40 percent of the [rating] is water supply and the last 10 percent is communications.”
He said the reviewer from ISO interviewed staff from both Alliance and Vernon County Sheriff’s Office which provides dispatch services to the city.
Several days later, Thornton learned the city had improved its rating from a 4 to a 3.
“Actually, it’s a 3 slash 3x,” Thornton said. “It’s a new scoring system.”
He continued, “Since we have the fire protection area outside the city that goes out to the five-mile ring, one of the things a lot of cities have is a split rating … The 3 is what the city is, the 3-x is basically a 9 outside the city … Several factors go into that. First and foremost, there is no hydrant system outside the city — no water. That’s 40 percent of that score even though we have the tanker and the water that we can get there and have the staff to provide that, it’s still road miles.”
Thorton said rural homeowners living between five and seven road miles from the Nevada fire station or within 1000 feet from a fire hydrant may still qualify for discounts on their home insurance.
“That’s what this ISO is for, homeowners insurance,” Thornton said.
The ISO rating is a tool used by insurance providers to help determine insurance premiums, a lower rating means lower insurance premiums.
He was unsure how quickly the new rating would affect local insurance premiums and suggested homeowners ask their insurance providers.
How did Nevada Fire Department go from a Class 4 to a Class 3?
“Water supply was one of our biggest things, and then also communications,” Thornton said. “Those two categories there scored really high.”
Increased training — an average of 35 hours per month — and more capable fire apparatus also contributed to the new rating.
“They actually gave us fire prevention points this time which is something new,” Thornton said.
The fire department visits schools regularly and teaches fire prevention and fire extinguisher classes each October during fire prevention month.
Thornton said. “Times have changed so they’ve changed the ISO to make it more reflective of today’s fire service and what they should be doing rather than try to look at something that was 30 years ago and apply it to now.”
He said he is already working to ensure the city retains or improves its rating when the next evaluation is performed.
“I think we’re at a point — 3 is probably the highest the city is going to go for a while unless we get that second station with more staffing.”
Thornton said the city would have to look at return on investment — would a second fire station and additional firefighter cost more than what it saves the homeowners?
“Sometimes that cost-effectiveness is not there to say ‘yeah, we can go from a 3 to a 2,’” he said. “I think maintaining the 3 we’ve got we can do with what we have, we just will improve a little bit more on our documentation for training.”
Founded in 1885, Nevada Fire Department responds to more than 800 calls for service annually. Building fires have seen a 60 percent decline in recent years with the department only responding to 12 in the last year.