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The Birmingham Fire Department is proud to announce its 5-year Insurance Services Office (ISO) review resulted in a new class 2 rating, up from its previous class 3 rating over the past 18 years. ISO ratings are graded 1-10, with 1 being the best. This improvement is a great accomplishment, as it is now among the top 1.5% of all fire departments in Michigan.
ISO measures a department’s ability through their Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) review manual. The FSRS considers three main areas of a community’s fire suppression system: emergency communications, fire department (including operational considerations), and water supply. In addition, it includes a Community Risk Reduction section that recognizes community efforts to reduce losses through fire prevention, public fire safety education, and fire investigation.
“I am extremely proud of the department’s dedicated personnel who put in the hard work that is required to achieve the training and preparedness scores on this review,” said Birmingham Fire Chief Paul Wells. “I would also like to thank the residents, city staff, and commissioners for the support to help grow the department and provide the equipment necessary to meet our department goals.”
The rating is good news for residents and commercial owners not only from a safety perspective, but also from a potential monetary perspective. Most insurance agencies use the ISO rating to determine insurance rate coverage for residential and commercial structures. Residential and commercial owners should mention the rating change to their insurance carriers to determine if the change will reduce their premium.
The Birmingham Fire Department, with its two strategically located and fully staffed Advanced Life Support stations, maintains an average emergency call response time of three minutes – the quickest response time in the state. In addition to all fire and medical (EMS) emergency calls, the fire department also provides response to hazardous materials calls, including explosive gas leaks, gasoline and chemical spills, carbon monoxide incidents, electrical wires down, etc. The department’s fire prevention bureau handles inspections of all commercial and industrial occupancies, schools, and multi-family dwellings. Their community risk reduction approach includes home safety inspections and public education throughout the entire city. The ISO rating change to a class 2 will go into effect August 1, 2023.