Part 1 of 3

On May 11-13, 2010 the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department will undergo the most intense scrutiny that a fire department, paid or volunteer can go experience. It was 1996 when the ISO last graded the AVID. “Many changes and improvements have been made since that time and we hope that is reflected in the grading process”, says Jeff Bagwell, AVFD Chief. “Most citizens don’t know what the ISO is, what it stands for, or even what a good rating can do for them?” Bagwell continued. Over the next three segments, we’ll try to answer these questions.
The ISO stands for the Insurance Services Office and they are employed by most insurance companies to grade fire departments, paid or volunteer, big or small, and they are all graded to the same standards. “The standards or grading process is not easier, just because we’re volunteers,” Bagwell stated. They will grade three (3) different organizations as they pertain to emergency services in the specified area, Fire Department, Water Authorities, and the emergency dispatch center, which is operated by the Sheriff’s Office in Anderson County.
The Fire Department will be graded more than any other agency. First, they will be graded on equipment they carry on their trucks, the age, type and quantity of that equipment. They require certain equipment that is not even required by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. However, all the required equipment is necessary for firefighting operations. Second they’ll be graded on training. Firefighters are required to have 267 hours of training, engineers/operators are required an additional 36 hours and officers are required to have an additional 16 hours for 100% of the points available. This training has to be fire related, not medical, not vehicle rescue, or Hazardous materials. “Very few fire departments will receive the full 100% credit for training, but we will score very well in this area”, said Bagwell. Third, they’ll be graded on Pre-Fire Plans on commercial buildings within our coverage area. Every commercial building must have a pre-fire plan conducted annually by the fire department and used in training as well. “When you see the fire department at a business, they are usually working on pre-plans,” Bagwell continued. “Pre-fire plans must be conducted to gain knowledge of the buildings, and calculate the ‘Needed Fire Flow’ for each building in the coverage area.” Forth, the fire department will be graded on equipment responding to a fire related emergency on the initial alarm. What this means is that as many fire trucks responding on the first calls the better the grading. “Fire departments often respond to mutual aid calls from neighboring departments, however, we are now implementing ‘automatic aid’ which puts more trucks responding quicker, hence a better score in the end,” Bagwell explained. Lastly, the fire department will be graded on manpower responding to fire related emergencies. Automatic aid can also help with on scene manpower. National studies have found that 13 is the optimum number of needed firefighters on the scene of a given structure fire, however, in rural settings, fire departments may need upwards of 20-25 firefighters on scene. Bagwell explained, “Therefore, when your volunteer fire department advertises that they need help, please don’t ignore them, they really do.” Remember to look for the remaining 2 parts of this article and please support the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department and all the Fire Departments in Anderson County.

AVFD Prepares for ISO Audit Part 2

In the first segment of this topic we discussed what the Fire Department means to the ISO Grading. Now we’ll address the Emergency Dispatch Center or what is commonly called the 911 center, and the Water Authority. In Anderson County, the 911 center is managed by the Sheriff’s Office. They will be graded on dispatch procedures, policies and practices concerning how fire services are dispatched to fire related emergencies. There should be a primary means of dispatching information to firefighters as well as a secondary means of dispatching the same information. They will also be graded on carrying out calls for automatic aid and mutual aid requested by the primary responding fire department. The auditor will be looking at dispatch centers, repeater sites, and numbers of radios and pagers afforded the firefighters. Improvements made in 911 dispatching in recent years since the last grading such as “enhanced 911” where addresses show as the call is received in the center will not only help the grading process, but will of course, improve services provided. “Such things as radio frequencies, the number of repeaters that improve communications in the county along with improved cooperation between departments such as automatic aid will help save, not only money in homeowners insurance premiums but also help save lives.

Part 3

Last but not least, the water authorities will be graded. Fire hydrants are necessary for fire protection! You don’t need them for water to your house, but if your house is burning, you’ve got to have a fire hydrant somewhere…. Size of water mains, as well as booster pumping stations and reserve tanks will be looked at by the ISO auditor. Fire departments are required to carry 1000’ of supply hose that connects to the fire hydrants that can supply arriving fire trucks with water to combat fires. If you don’t live within 1000’ of a fire hydrant then fire departments must carry, or shuttle water from the hydrant to the fire. Therefore, the ISO mandates that the fire department be graded on their ability to sustain flowing 250 gallons per minutes by shuttling water in tankers for 2 hours. “We’ll have to perform that drill while the ISO auditor evaluates our performance using our tankers as well as tankers from automatic aid departments,” Bagwell explained. In most areas, the water authorities install water mains and hydrants, but fire departments are required to flow test and paint those hydrants annually. “So when you see your fire department working on the hydrants, they are actually working to be prepared in the event YOU have a fire,” Bagwell said.
So having explained all this process, what does this mean for the average homeowner? The majority of homeowners carry insurance on their property. That insurance premium is based on the protection rating that the fire department receives from the ISO. With no fire protection coverage at all the protection rating is a Class 10. Currently Andersonville is a Class 7 if you live within 1000’ of a fire hydrant and if you are beyond 1000’ of a fire hydrant, you’d receive a class 9. A Class 9 rating should save the average homeowner around $150, a class 7 should save you an additional $100. To go to a class 5 could save you an additional $100 depending on your coverage. The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department currently asks that each homeowner invest $50 to the fire department, some give more and that is GREATLY appreciated. Nonetheless, you can see from the basic numbers above that the fire department can save you hundreds of dollars. Not to mention that they could save your life!