Advance, Lebanon fire ratings improve [The Lebanon Reporter, Ind.]

March 23--Fire insurance premiums should go down for residents of Advance and Lebanon on June 1 because of action by a national organization that grades fire protection for municipalities. In Zionsville, meanwhile, fire officials are waiting to hear how they fared.

ISO -- founded in 1971 as the Insurance Services Office -- uses a wide range of categories to determine fire insurance categories, called I SO ratings which are divided into subcategories ranging from a low of 9 to a high of 1.

"People should be talking to their insurance companies," Advance Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jim Caldwell said.

Advance's rating within five miles of the department's main station at was increased to a six to a seven, Caldwell said.

"Our insurance guy said it depends on which insurance company you go with, but definitely people should be getting a 7 to 10 percent discount, maybe even better," Caldwell said.

Half of an ISO score is based on the fire department itself, 40 percent on a community's water supply and 10 percent on response to fire alarms, including dispatching and telephone service. Of the fire department score, 15 percent is based on the number of firefighters, and 10 percent on the number of pumpers.

Those three basic categories have subdivisions.

Under water supply, for example, "If a fire department can deliver 4,000 gallons of water to addresses within five miles of its station, it gets positive marks," Caldwell said.

Lebanon Fire Chief Jason Lee said the city's residential rating will go from a five to a four, which will mean "only a few dollars a year" for homeowners.

That new rating, however, will have "a significant impact on commercial insurance," Lee said. "How much, we don't know; we're in the process of trying to figure that our ourselves."

Lebanon is appealing the ISO's "split rating" of 4/9 for urban and rural areas, Lee said.

A community receives a split rating based on distances from a fire station or a water source, such as a hydrant, according to I SO said.

"We believe we should a 4/8b," Lee said. If rural areas are bumped to an 8b, it could save homeowners up to $400 or $500 a year, he said.

The 4 rating covers the city limits and "everything within 1,000 feet, or an eighth of a mile, past the last hydrant," Lee said.

Zionsville's field inspection was in December, ZFD Chief James VanGorder said, and the results of the inspection aren't yet known. The town is now rated 5. Much like a golf score, he said, "the lower it goes, the better it is."

"We're hoping to see improvement," VanGorder said. "The challenge for the Zionsville Fire Department is that we've made significant improvement, (but) have we kept pace with the growth of the community in the last 20 years?"

Annexations, a unification of the town with Eagle and Union townships, and explosive growth have added "thousands and thousands" of homes to ZFD's protection area.

"It's been several years since we were last evaluated," he said. "It's always one of those balancing acts."

To score a9, a community must have at least one fire truck equipped with a 300-gallon tank, a 50-gallon-per-minute pump; two 150-feet lengths of 3/4-inch hose, a minimum amount of basic tools and ladders, and other factors. Standards build on themselves, with each level adding further minimums.

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