The Insurance Services Office (ISO) completed evaluation of the fire suppression capabilities of the City of Champaign Fire Department and reported its findings this week. The City’s rating will remain as Class 2.
Maintaining the Class 2 rating places the City of Champaign in the top two percent of communities in the nation in terms of its fire defenses. “We are fortunate to have the kind of support from our City Council, Administration, Firefighters’ Union and our great employees that allows us to maintain this rating. A number of other cities in the state have slipped back a bit in their classifications,” according to Fire Chief Doug Forsman.
Evaluations occur every 10-12 years. The grading system classifies every fire department in the nation designating their capabilities within the range of 1 to 10, with 1 being the very best. The Class 2 rating means that fire insurance rates for properties within Champaign will remain very low for both commercial and residential properties. The rates also apply to properties outside of the City that contract for fire services with the City of Champaign.
The ISO inspection process is an in-depth look at nearly everything the Fire Department does, according to Chief Forsman. “They look at all our records as well as every piece of equipment we have on every fire truck,” said Forsman. The ISO rating also reviews the community’s water supply and the emergency dispatching capabilities, accounting for 40% and 10% of the rating calculation respectively.
The Insurance Services Office is an organization that provides underwriting information to nearly every fire insurance company in the nation. The information is used to establish insurance premiums for properties in a given community. The ISO Fire Suppression Rating process has been on-going for more than 100 years.