Alton FD improves ISO rating

The Telegraph.com recently published an article highlighting the improvements made by the Alton Fire Department in its ISO rating:

ALTON — Despite having fewer firefighters on duty, the efforts of the city’s fire chief are helping to boost Alton’s insurance rating this fall, which could lead to lower premium costs for residents and businesses.

“The city of Alton’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating has been upgraded to a Class 3, effective October 1st,” said Fire Chief Bernie Sebold, who previously had a Class 4 rating. “The ISO rating plays a key role in how insurance companies set property insurance rates for both homes and businesses. To determine the PPC rating, ISO looks at the fire department’s dispatching system, water supply infrastructure, and overall operations.”

Sebold advised residents and business owners to reach out to their insurance providers about the upcoming change.

“I encourage everyone in Alton to contact their insurance company and let them know about the new ISO rating that will take effect on October 1st,” he said. “When we were downgraded from Class 3 to 4, several people told us that their premiums went up by about $85 to $100 annually, depending on the carrier.”

ISO ratings range from 1 to 10, with 1 being the best. In Illinois, only 144 out of 2,408 fire departments have a Class 3 rating. Sebold noted that there are just seven departments with a Class 1 rating and 56 with a Class 2 rating.

Nationally, out of 47,242 fire departments, only 1,998 are rated Class 3, with 61 at Class 1 and 592 at Class 2, according to Sebold.

He explained that two major changes helped improve the rating: first, increasing officer training and conducting more multi-company drills, and second, having East Alton respond to all structure fires in Alton, and vice versa.

While Alton firefighters have always conducted regular monthly drills, Sebold said they adjusted the focus of these exercises to meet ISO requirements as part of their improvement plan.

“We increased the number of drills and expanded the areas we trained in,” he said.

Manpower was another issue identified by ISO. With only 48 firefighters currently on staff, Sebold worked with the East Alton Fire Department to create a mutual response agreement, ensuring more personnel can be deployed during emergencies.

Sebold also mentioned that ISO typically evaluates cities every 10 years, but it had been 12 years since the last assessment before the city was re-evaluated five years ago. That review led to the downgrade from Class 3 to 4.

“In the summer of 2008, ISO came to Alton for its first evaluation since 1996,” he said. “They cited issues with staffing and training as reasons for the downgrade. When I became fire chief in April 2012, one of my main goals was to improve the ISO rating. After contacting ISO, they asked us to provide a full year of updated data and agreed to re-evaluate the department in May 2013.”

Thanks Chris

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