News & Announcements

Effingham receives improved ISO rating

Release Date: Oct. 6, 2008

Mayor John Lange has received official notification that the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification Program has placed the City’s rate as a Class 3, which is an improvement from the City’s current Class 4 rating.

ISO’s PPC program evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria defined in the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule, including the water supply system and telecommunications, and based on those criteria, it was determined the City has made improvements to further meet the nationally recognized standards developed by the National Fire Protection Agency and the American Water Works Association.

In order to obtain an ISO rating, the City is graded on three major features:

• Fire Alarm and Communication System — This review accounts for 10 percent of the total classification which centers upon a community’s facilities and support for handling the dispatching fire alarms.

• Fire Department — This review accounts for 50 percent of the total classification which focuses upon items such as engine companies, distribution of fire stations and fire companies, department manning, and training.

• Water Supply System — This review accounts for 40 percent of the total classification highlighting the water supply a community used for fire suppression.

Based on the recent survey, the City of Effingham received 75.34 percent of the maximum credits to earn its ranking as a Class 3, which is classified for scores between 70 percent and 79.99 percent.

“I am happy to hear that our ISO rank has improved from a Class 4 to a Class 3,” said Mayor John Lange.  “The improvement in our rating can be attributed to the team work among departments and City employees to insure proper steps are taken to minimize risks for our residents.

“We continue to take positive steps to efficiently meet the safety needs of the citizens for the City of Effingham,” added Lange.

ISO is an independent company that serves insurance companies, communities, fire departments, insurance regulators, and others by providing information about risk.  For more information on the rating system, visit www.iso.com.