Feature Story:
The impact of municipal fire protection and insured property loss on your book of business
ISO works with municipal fire authorities and other community officials to administer the Public Protection Classification (PPCTM ) program. The PPC program assesses a community's ability to suppress fires, and those ratings directly affect property insurance values.
Communities strive to achieve "best in class." It takes hard work, perseverance, and constant diligence for communities to achieve the best status. Insurers and individual policyholders benefit from reduced losses in those top-rated communities.
ISO's PPC program
ISO conducts detailed on-site assessments of municipal fire-protection capabilities and collects information for more than 45,000 fire protection areas across the United States. We analyze the relevant data and assign a PPC from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents exemplary public protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area's fire-suppression program doesn't meet the minimum criteria to apply ISO's Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS).
Virtually all U.S. insurers of home and business property use ISO's PPC program to assess property insurance policies. That's because statistical data on insurance losses demonstrates the relationship between better fire protection — as measured by the PPC program — and lower fire losses.
ISO statistics show that, per $1,000 of insured property, communities with the worst PPC ratings have fire losses two or more times as high as communities with the best PPC ratings.
How does ISO evaluate a community?
ISO evaluates a community's PPC on the strength of its fire department, water supply, and fire alarm and communications systems.
Fire department
Fifty percent of the overall grading is based on a fire department's first-alarm response and initial attack to minimize potential loss from structure fires. We review the distribution of fire stations and fire companies, equipment carried, pumping capacity, reserve apparatus, department personnel, and firefighter training.
Water supply
Forty percent of the overall grading is based on the community's water supply. For structures in the communities ISO evaluates, we review the condition and maintenance of hydrants, and we evaluate the available water supply against the amount needed to suppress fires. We assess all components of the water-supply system, including pumps, storage, and filtration, and even observe fire-flow tests at various community locations to determine the rate of flow the water mains provide.
Fire alarm and communications systems
Ten percent of the overall grading is based on how the emergency communications center receives and dispatches fire alarms to fire departments. We evaluate staffing, dispatching systems, and the number of available telephone lines to handle emergency calls received at the communications center.
Class 1 PPC communities
Focus on Pembroke Pines
ISO now has 57 fire protection areas with a Class 1 PPC — in areas as geographically diverse as Las Vegas, Nevada; Forest Hills, California; El Paso, Texas; and Milford, Connecticut.
One example of a community that worked hard to achieve a PPC Class 1 is Pembroke Pines, Florida.
Pembroke Pines achieved a Class 1 rating in 1998, improving the city's previous Class 2 rating. ISO resurveyed Pembroke Pines in 2007, and it maintained its Class 1 rating. Dedication and commitment to fire protection are necessary to achieve a Class 1 rating, and both are essential to maintaining the rating during subsequent reviews. A community must keep up with fire-service demands like growth and development. Fire Chief John Picarello and the city of Pembroke Pines have managed growth and maintained adequate coverage where development has occurred.
The Pembroke Pines fire department — with six fire stations and 228 firefighters — covers 34.4 square miles. The city's population is approximately 152,000. Every year, the department responds to more than 22,000 calls for service and completes nearly 80,000 hours of training.
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| John Picarello, Fire Chief, Pembroke Pines, Florida |
"The city of Pembroke Pines has always strived to provide our residents with the best possible level of service. The ISO PPC rating system has been a valuable tool to help establish priorities and set goals and objectives. Our current ISO rating is the culmination of hard work and dedication by the entire fire department, both past and present, working together with the support of the community and our city leaders."
John Picarello, Fire Chief
Pembroke Pines, Florida
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Comments
The comments posted by our readers do not represent the opinions of ISO or the author.
From: Margie Bragg
Comment: Very imformative information on how PPC classes are set.
From: Greg Ames
Comment: Valuable information which can be applied directly to
property assessments.
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