City of Bloomington issued the following announcement on Sept. 16.
Bloomington Fire Chief Jason Moore has announced that the Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) today received the highest Public Protection Classification (PPC) from Insurance Service Office, Inc. (ISO). The department has been awarded an ISO Class 1/1x rating for its protection of incorporated areas of the City of Bloomington.
This is the second improvement in the BFD’s rating since the start of 2016. The City of Bloomington is one of four cities out of 1593 communities protected by a fire department in the state with a class one (1) rating, placing Bloomington among the top 0.2% of communities in the state and the top 0.5% in the nation.
The ISO rating is determined by three criteria weighted as follows:
Emergency communications (emergency dispatch center) (10%)
Water supply systems (the amount of water necessary for fire suppression) (40%)
Fire department (equipment, staffing, training, geographic distribution of fire companies, operational considerations and community risk reduction) (50%)
“We are immensely proud of our Bloomington Fire Department and our City’s firefighters for their tireless and selfless dedication to protecting public safety,” said Mayor John Hamilton. “Bloomington residents can be confident of the quality of their services with this certification of our fire department’s outstanding capacity to save lives and property. I thank our City’s excellent firefighters and BFD leadership for their commitment to continual process improvement, training that far exceeds state and national standards, and smart and resourceful use of technology. We are grateful to City Council for having approved passage of the Public Safety Local Income Tax (PSLIT) and to taxpayers for funding capital improvements through the PSLIT that have contributed to the BFD’s excellent score.”
The new rating may result in a decrease of annual insurance premiums for property owners within the City of Bloomington service area. Residential and commercial property owners within the City of Bloomington are encouraged to contact their insurance providers to inquire if their premiums will be impacted by the improved classification rating.
ISO is an independent company that serves insurance companies, communities, fire departments, insurance regulators and others by providing information about risk. The office collects and evaluates information from communities across the United States on their structure fire suppression capabilities.
Information in the database is collected through the use of the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), an algorithm that yields Public Protection Classification (PPC) ratings for fire departments on a scale of 1 (best) to 10 (no protection).
“Achieving this milestone is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our community including the membership of the City of Bloomington Fire Department, City of Bloomington Utilities, Monroe County Central Emergency Dispatch Center, and Indiana University Office of Insurance, Loss Control, and Claims,” said Fire Chief Moore. “Upgrading our ISO rating is a recordable metric that proves our department is improving its service delivery, fire prevention activities, and ultimately making the community a safer place to live, work, and play.”
Original source can be found here.
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