Cartersville Fire Department Earns Highest ISO Rating

The Cartersville Fire Department has achieved the highest rating any agency providing fire services can receive.

According to WBHF Radio, the department has been notified it’s received an ISO, or Insurance Service Office, Class rating of 1, which will go into effect in the summer. The fire department previously had a rating of 3.

Fire Chief Scott Carter told the radio station the goal to obtain the highest rating started with a strategic plan to “build on the successes of those before us and to efficiently target areas where we knew there were deficiencies in our service delivery.”

“Through the support of our city administration, mayor and council this new ISO classification became a reality,” Carter added.

Read more of WBHF’s report here.

Along with Cartersville, the Bartow County Fire Department also improvement in its ISO rating. On its Facebook page, the agency noted the most recent survey earned the department a class 3/3Y rating. They were previously rated at class 5/9.

“This means a savings to our citizens that are within five miles of a fire station on homeowner insurance premiums in the future,” Bartow fire wrote. “Thanks to the BCFD staff, (County) Commissioner Taylor, County Administrator Peter Olson, Water Superintendent Gene Camp and everyone that worked to make this happen.”

The ISO system is used to rate how well fire departments serve their area. The scale runs from one to 10, with one being the best fire service. The ratings are used to calculate homeowners’ insurance costs.

The ISO review is divided into four sections: emergency communications systems, the fire department (including equipment, staffing, training, etc.), an agency’s water supply system and efforts to reduce the risk of fire.

To help establish appropriate fire insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties, insurance companies need reliable, up-to-date information about a community’s fire-protection services. ISO provides that information through the Public Protection Classification (PPC™) program.

Photo credit: city of Cartersville’s Facebook page.