Hutchinson scores highest fire protection rating
The Insurance Service Office rating for
The changes should mean a significant drop in insurance rates for both homeowners and businesses.
The rating could also become a major economic development selling point for the city, both Beer and
Beer held a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the fire department's
"Some guys who've been on the department a long time told me it could not be done, that the highest we'd ever get was a 3," Beer said. "All you've got do is challenge the staff at this department and with continued improvement, you guys got it done."Key partners in achieving the new rating, Beer said, were 911 dispatch and the city water department.
ISO classes are scored on a scale from 10 to 1, with T10 being the worst and 1 considered superior. Nine out of 10 insurance providers around the nation use the ISO in helping determine insurance premiums.
According to the ISO website, Beer said, only six other cities in
That's less than 0.7 percent.
The nearest is
Insurance impact
The ISO ratings come into play on insurance because they affect the cost of underwriting policies, based on potentials for projected losses.
The new rating should be a key selling point for locating a new business in
"When
While he couldn't comment on specific impacts to insurance rates -- and local insurance providers declined to say -- Beers said in his experience every point change on the ISO scale impacts rates by 5 to 7 percent.
The change in
Buildings with larger square footage will likely see the biggest impact in rates, said
"As a property owner, I'm glad to see it," Patton said of the ISO improvement. "As an insurance agent, a reduction in premiums will, of course, reduce my income. But that's OK, especially if it does attract new business and encourage people to up new stuff, to do things. It's a positive thing."
As the ISO updates, it should automatically adjust the system insurers use to determine rates, Patton said. Depending on when someone obtains a policy or renews it will determine when the new rates are felt.
"It may hit some people in mid-policy, in which case they can go in and request a revision based off the ISO," he said. "If you renew in May or later, it should automatically adjust."
Earning the score
The city and department had to complete dozens of tasks to achieve the rating, including assessing the risk to structures and measuring the flow of fire hydrants around the city.
Fire crews assessed fire risks at more than 2,000 buildings around the city and conducted water flow tests on some 2,500 fire hydrants.
"All the hydrants are labeled now, a task never performed in the history of the department," Beer said. "It's great data. Working with the city water department Chief (Doug)
To get its score, ISO inspectors assess the city in four categories, on 10 major criteria, awarding points up to a maximum 105.5. The four broad areas rated include emergency communications, the fire department, water supply and community risk reduction.
Emergency communications can score a maximum 10 points. During its last audit, in 2012, dispatch score seven out of 10. This year they expect an eight or nine, Beer said.
The fire department assessment, which focuses on fire suppression capabilities, can score up to 50 points. Areas measured include the department's first-alarm response and initial fire attack, the number and types of vehicles, equipment carried on the units, pumping capacities, reserve fire units and personnel and training.
During its previous audit, the department scored 34 of the possible points. This year they expect to be close to reaching the maximum. They used the previous inspection, Beer said, to identify the department's weaknesses.
Water supply counts for 40 points of the total, with the rating based on the number of hydrants, their size and how well they work. Thus the need to assess and categorize all the city's hydrants.
The last measure is community risk assessment and risk reduction, worth 5.5 points.
"These are the fire prevention codes we deal with on a daily basis, their adoption and enforcement," Beer said. "As well as public safety education we have in place and fire investigation."
Investment in time
The investment the city had to make in achieving the improved rating, Beer and Deardoff said, was primarily in manpower, rather than infrastructure or equipment. And that was from inspecting the 2,014 building and testing all the fire hydrants.
The dispatch center has had and will see additional upgrades in program and equipment, but those were needed and planned outside of improving fire protection.
With the database they have built, Beer said, the department should be able to maintain its rating through regular annual hydrant testing and building assessments and continuing its aggressive level of training and education.
"Training has a huge impact," Beer said. "We sent ISO a document five inches thick of our training records. Each firefighter has 20 hours of training per month... That was a big factor in getting us to Class 1."
It will also be necessary, he said, for the city to continue to maintain and enforce building and fire protection codes.
"I think this is a very important change and accomplishment for the community, particularly the business community," Deardoff said. "The other thing I'd say is this was a joint effort. It took a team to accomplish this. When
"I truly hope it's something people can understand the significance of," Deardoff said. "It puts us in class with some of the finest departments in the country. We're in good company."
___
(c)2019 The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, Kan.)
Visit The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, Kan.) at www.hutchnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
EDITORIAL: Part-time Sweetwater Authority board members don’t deserve costly insurance perk
Point of Care Diagnostics (POCD) Market Sales and Market Shares of Major Suppliers 2018-2025: Roche, Abbott, BioMrieux, Abaxis, Siemens Healthineers, QIAGEN, Danaher
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News