Princeton Fire Department achieves new ISO rating

May 10--PRINCETON -- A rise in the Princeton Fire Department's Insurance Service Office's (ISO) rating could mean a drop in what the city's residents and businesses have to pay for fire insurance.

Chief Chad Bailey of the Princeton Fire Department appeared Monday before the Princeton City Council and informed its members that the department's ISO rating had risen from Class III to Class II. This is on a scale of one to 10, with Class I being the best and Class 10 being little or no fire protection.

"One is the best you can do, but two is great," Bailey said. "We went from Class III to Class II. When I started here 22 years ago, we were a Class V. It's taken us 22 years to get to a Class II."

The new rating goes into effect on Aug. 1, Bailey said. Insurance companies that participate in the ISO system could give policyholders rate decreases of up to five percent.

When determining a fire department's rating, officials with the ISO evaluate not only the local fire department, but also the local water company and the county's 911 center, Bailey said. The fire department's equipment, the training of its personnel, its response times, and other factors are considered, too.

There are only 1,062 Class II fire departments across the nation and only 132 Class I departments, Bailey said, adding the Princeton Fire Department was the only Class II department in southern West Virginia and Mercer County. He estimated there were only three to five Class II departments in West Virginia.

The fire department currently has 12 full-time firefighters and two volunteer firefighters. Bailey added that the department recently started a Facebook page, and the new rating was going to be one of its first posts.

City officials and members of the council congratulated the department for achieving the new rating.

"I go in the fire department all the time," City Manager Kenneth Clay said. "You can eat off the floor, you could eat off the cab of the truck."

In other business, Clay swore in a new assistant city manager, Michael Webb. Webb, a native of Summers County, said he attended Concord University, then Concord College, from 1989 to 1993, and later earned a master's degree at Marshall University.

Clay also swore in Charles W. Pace as city judge. When the meeting began a new member of the Princeton Police Department, Patrolman Clifford Gum, took his oath of office. Chief John Howell of the Princeton Police Department said the department is now up to full strength.

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