Fire chief touts on department’s accomplishments

March 22--OTTUMWA -- The annual report for Ottumwa Fire Department is usually only one page, but this year Ottumwa Fire Chief Tony Miller decided "We're going to doctor things up." The 2017 report is a 19-page booklet.

"So much of what is done on a daily basis goes unnoticed by the public unless they have an emergency when we respond," said Miller in the report. He touted this week about the accomplishments of the 32-man OFD while discussing 2017.

In 2017 the OFD lowered its ISO rating to 3, which means Ottumwa residents should pay less for fire insurance.

ISO stands for the Insurance Services Office, a private corporation that evaluates industries for insurance rating purposes, according to Fire Engineering. For the fire service, the ISO uses the Public Protection Classification program to conduct periodic audits of every fire department in the United States on a rotating basis, usually about every 10 years. Every audit results in a rating from 1, the best, to 10 the worst.

"The insurance companies base your home insurance rates, your business rates on your ISO," Miller said. "It's a three-part deal. OFD is 40 percent of it."

ISO checks the fire equipment on every truck, Miller said. It looks at how much hose the trucks have, how much training the department has.

"The second part of this is they test hydrants for distribution," said Miller.

They also test the dispatch center, Miller said. The Ottumwa Police Department dispatches for OFD.

"In 2010 we were a 5," said Miller. In 2012 the department's ISO went to 4. "March 1, 2017, we went to a 3."

The 2017 Iowa State Haz Mat Technician of the Year is featured on the cover of the annual report. Master Firefighter Ron Klein received the award in November at the State of Iowa's Hazardous Material Symposium in Ames.

As a member of the Southeast Iowa Response Group, one of 20 units in the state, Klein teaches hazmat classes throughout the region. Last year SIRG taught classes in six of the nine counties it covers, Miller said. The instruction includes a classroom presentation and hands-on experience. Klein put together the program himself, Miller said.

Miller knew when he snapped the photo of Klein fighting a fire on West Second Street in December that he had the perfect cover photo.

OFD responded to 3,902 calls last year, the report says. Miller expects the number to rise as it has for the past 10 years. "We run all the medical calls, and we're running hazmat calls now. If history means anything, our numbers will continue to grow."

Most of the calls are medical. Only 56 were for structure fires, but that's a high number, according to Miller. Some of them were the result of arson. That situation has been taken care of, Miller said.

Fire Marshall Cory Benge investigated 45 of the structure fires. He also investigated 15 car fires. Those 60 investigations found 14 incidences of arson and led to five arrests.

Reporter Winona Whitaker can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @courierwinona.

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