Raleigh County’s ISO fire ratings drop; levy director has more plans for the future

April 07--As the result of a 2016 fire levy, fire departments across Raleigh County have been able to lower their Insurance Service Offer (ISO) rating, a score that determines the cost of insurance. Ratings range from 1 to 10 with Class 1 being the best.

Raleigh County Fire Levy Director Kevin Price explained that through the levy, departments have had the opportunity to receive additional funding for training and better equipment, in turn increasing their Class ratings. For example, Price reported due to the levy, Beckley Fire Department has gone from a Class 3 to a Class 2, making it better equipped to battle a blaze.

"They're just one point away from being a Class 1, the highest you can get," Price said, "and I think that's really amazing."

Price explained not only has the City of Beckley been richly affected by the levy, but more rural areas of the county have as well. He said Clear Creek Fire Department went up in ranking from a Class 8 to a Class 4.

"It's still low, but they jumped higher from where they were, which is great," he said.

After putting in three years, departments are able to get their equipment tested annually, including breathing apparatus and fire truck pumps s. Price said testing on the objects often went poorly because either the equipment was old and couldn't pass, or the department didn't have the money to pay for the testing.

"The year prior to the levy, many trucks failed their pump tests," Price said." Now, they're all passing with flying colors due to more funding and better equipment."

Price explained getting the ISO ratings dropped has been an ongoing process, one for which he said he is still extremely thankful.

"The ISO can look and see the history of all testing, including failed testing," he added. "They see all of that, and they wanted to see better scores before anything could drop. That took time, with the levy, but now we can say we have reached some success.

"We still have a long way to go, though. I'd like to see continued success and provide more protection for the people."

Price said the ultimate goal is to have every fire department in the county to be ranked at a Class 1, but it will take time.

His plan is to have paid firefighters eventually working to help supplement the volunteers. He said he would like to implement that during the next levy.

"We are in a manpower crisis," Price added. "There are only so many people to go around, but I want to further help the people, and to me, the best way to do that is to put paid people out there.

"Again, this will all take time, good things always do. But now, we have a start."

-- Email: [email protected]; follow on Twitter @jnelsonRH

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