A point for better fire protection

Jan. 02--A full point does make a difference when it comes to fire protection in Pauls Valley and insurance costs for local owners of homes and businesses.

The drop is from four to three for what's called the ISO rating for the PV Fire Department.

The rating change represents an improvement for the overall fire protection in the PV area, which also means a little bit of a decrease in the upcoming insurance costs for home and business owners locally.

Fire Chief Mark Norman says a recent assessment resulted in the new ISO rating, which is set to take effect this March.

"An ISO is an evaluation of a fire department," Norman said.

"We keep working to get as low as we can. It helps people with their insurance costs, and we get better as a department.

"We just keep trying to build and get better wherever we can. It makes us a better department so we can do a better job. That's what you always try to do."

The main components of the rating are the number of firefighters staffing a department, their training and how up-to-date all the equipment is at the time of an evaluation.

As for the rating scale, 10 is the worst a department can get, while one represents the best.

"There's not many of those in the state," Norman said about the fire departments with a one rating. "Oklahoma City just went to a one."

For many years PV's fire department had a rating of six. Then in 2005 the rating dropped to four.

The new three rating also means lower insurance costs for property in Pauls Valley and sites up to five road miles from town or within 1,000 feet of a water hydrant.

The fire chief expects local businesses to see the biggest savings, while homeowners should still some a small drop in their insurance premiums.

"If someday we get a substation and more personnel we could even drop to a two."

A big help in making the new rating a reality has been a quarter cent sales tax passed by Garvin County voters back in 2012.

Most of the revenues are evenly split among the dozen fire departments spread throughout the county allowing each one to upgrade equipment and firefighter training in a big way.

According to Norman, it's definitely made a difference in allowing the PV department to make some big jumps forward.

He says in the days of the department's ISO rating of six there were times when some of the department's older trucks just didn't work. It appears those days are long gone.

"That's been the best thing for all the fire departments," he said about the tax revenues.

Locally upgrading equipment has been one of the benefits as the PV department has since acquired a new fire engine, brush truck, new air packs for firefighters and rescue tools.

"I also want to say how grateful I am to the public for how much they support us," Norman adds. "They're always behind us and it's something I'm grateful for."

An example comes from the support for the department's recent holiday chili supper, which was one of the best ever in the event's history, he said.

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