The Douglas Fire Department has been designated a Class 3 fire department, according to a recently conducted Insurance Services Office (ISO) survey. ISO creates ratings for fire departments and their surrounding communities and calculates how well-equipped fire departments are to put out fires in a community. ISO ratings range from 1-10, with 1 being the best rating a fire department can achieve. Surveys are conducted every 5 years with the last survey being conducted for Douglas in 2015. In the 2015 survey, Douglas Fire Department scored a 4 rating but have improved their score to a 3 rating in the 2022 survey (the COVID pandemic delayed surveying).
The ISO provides this score to homeowners insurance companies which use the rating to help set homeowners insurance rates in a community. Ultimately, a higher ISO rating means there is less risk of fire damage to homes in a community and translates to lower homeowner insurance premiums.
According to the ISO’s Fire Suppression Rating Schedule, there are four main criteria to a fire rating score:
- 50% comes from the quality of your local fire department including staffing levels, training, capabilities, number of apparatuses and proximity of the fire station.
- 40% comes from availability of water supply, including the prevalence of fire hydrants and how much water is available for putting out fires.
- 10% comes from the quality of the area’s emergency communications systems.
- An extra 5.5% comes from community outreach, including fire prevention and safety courses.
In recognition of this achievement, the City of Douglas would like to express appreciation for the hardworking staff at Douglas Fire Department.
Original source can be found here.
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