King George fire rating improves in latest report

Jun. 20--King George County's ability to protect structures from fire damage has improved dramatically in the last decade, with a newly released report showing an even better rating.

Insurance Services Office of New Jersey uses what's called a public protection classification to rate fire services throughout the nation. Because insurance companies then use that data to determine premiums for policy holders, the county's continued progress is "a big deal," said David Moody, chief of the King George County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services.

"This will be a cost savings to homeowners and business owners," he told the King George Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

ISO rates localities on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best. It gives two detailed reports for areas within 5 miles of a fire station. One focuses on structures within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant, the other on those beyond that measurement.

In both reports, King George was rated a Class 4. That's a marked improvement from 1999, when the rural county was a Class 9. It bumped up to a Class 6 by 2002, then a Class 5 by 2013.

The ISO also gives a third rating to buildings more than 5 miles from a fire station. They automatically get the lowest score, a 10.

Moody had to condense his report into a brief presentation because of Tuesday's packed agenda. Supervisor Richard Granger thanked him "for the good news" and fellow Supervisor Ruby Brabo reminded the audience of a vastly different scenario eight years ago when she joined the board.

"People were actually losing their homeowners' insurance because of our ISO rating," she said.

In addition, the King George department was criticized regularly for not having enough manpower to staff company units, as well as for mismanagement and disorganization.

Brabo thanked fellow members Granger and John Jenkins Jr. who joined the board in 2016 and have approved hiring more first responders and increasing their pay, as well as that of teachers and other county employees, in line with what's offered in other area jurisdictions. Those measures have come with a price; in 2016 alone, the board raised taxes by 7 cents to help the county catch up on basic needs.

But with items such as the improved ISO rating, "we've been able to see rewards" from those actions, Brabo said.

A fire department's ability to respond to emergencies is the largest part of the ISO rating. Departments can earn 50 points, based on the number of employees and how much training they get, and how many fire engines, pumpers and other pieces of equipment are available.

King George earned 36.85 and 41.30 points in the two separate reports for its fire department.

The second biggest component is a locality's water supply, and King George came up lacking in two of three scores: supply system and inspection and flow training. Localities can get 40 points in this measurement; in the two separate reports, King George got 17.40 and 22.08.

The third measurement is emergency communications, worth 10 points. King George received 6.37 and 7.12 points on the two reports.

King George is one of 105 municipalities in Virginia and 6,991 localities nationwide with a Class 4 rating.

Locally, King George has the same rating as Stafford County and better marks than Spotsylvania and Caroline counties, which are both Class 5. Fredericksburg has the highest ranking in the region as a Class 3, because almost all of its properties are close to hydrants.

Adding a few hydrants--and beefing up the volume of water running through them--can make a big difference in the ISO rating, Moody said. For instance, King George had hydrants at Fairview Beach and Potomac Landing, "but they didn't have volume to meet a credible water supply," the chief said. A new pumping station changed that, he said.

The ISO reports are available online at kinggeorgecountyva.gov/833/Reports.

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