San Marcos Fire Department gets top rating

The San Marcos Fire Department recently received a class 1 rating — the highest rank available — from the Insurance Services Office, which rates fire departments for actuarial purposes, the city announced Thursday.

The department is one of 37 in the state to receive Class 1 status, out of 892 in the ratings system, city officials said. The ratings evaluate a fire department's ability to protect local communities, and help cities measure the effectiveness of their fire protection services, the city stated.

They are also used by insurance companies to establish fire insurance rates, and a high rating can reduce insurance premiums for ratepayers. Other North County departments that have Class 1 ratings include Poway and Solana Beach, San Marcos Fire Chief Daniel Barron said.

"The Class 1 ranking reflects the city's commitment to public safety, along with the shared effort and responsibility among the fire department, local leaders, business owners and residents," city officials said in a statement.

Insurance Service Office is a national source of information about insurance risk, and provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting, and claims data for commercial and personal lines of insurance. The ratings system ranks fire departments on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 representing the highest classification, and 10 indicating that the area's fire suppression program does not meet minimum criteria set by the Insurance Services Office, city spokeswoman Robin Rockey said.

The ratings are updated every five years, she said, and the Class 1 status represents a long-term effort to update fire response and reduce fire risk throughout the city.

There are four key areas of fire suppression capabilities that the ISO evaluates, including the fire department itself, emergency communications, water supply and community fire risk reductions including fire prevention, public fire safety education and fire investigation.

The office also looks at whether fire stations are distributed properly for maximum coverage, if they have appropriate apparatus and equipment, and adequate staffing for engine crews and ladder companies, if building and fire codes are properly written and enforced, and whether the fired departments training procedures, organizational structure and communications and call procedures meet standards.

"This achievement represents years of ingrained systems and processes, along with the accountability of programs and personnel," Barron said.

The San Marcos Fire Department had been rated as Class 2 for many years, but made many incremental improvements on various standards in order to cross the threshold to Class 1, he said. Those included documenting its emergency dispatch protocol for patients, coordinating with Vallecitos Water District to ensure that the department had the correct water flow for fire fighting at its hydrants, and documenting its pre-fire planning efforts at businesses with hazardous materials.

"In every little category we had slight improvement in a lot of areas," he said.

If a community's rating improves, premiums insurers charge may decrease, Rockey stated. Residents and business owners should contact their insurance providers to inquire about how Fire Rescue's Class 1 PPC rating may impact their premiums.

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