The Gray Fire Department had exciting news for city residents last week with the announcement of a reduction in Gray’s ISO rating, which affects the cost of property insurance and attracts businesses.
Fire Chief Keith Eisele made the formal announcement at the fire department’s annual Christmas party Dec. 19, which serves as a promotions and awards event.
Eisele also issued a press release with information about Gray’s Class 3 ISO rating that will be active in March. The initials ISO stand for Insurance Service Organization.
The chief said the notification came this month that the city’s score, following this year’s inspection in October, improved by 9.97 points from the October 2019 inspection.
“This affects all residents within limits of the City of Gray,” he said. “This improvement could not have been accomplished without the fantastic men and women that we have on the team at the Gray Fire Department.”
Eisele said paying for insurance is a fact of life, and insurance companies use many factors when determining the cost of insurance premiums. He said one major factor is the ISO rating in determining the quality of fire protection available.
The chief explained that fire departments are assigned a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. A rating of 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria, and, in contrast, a Class 1 represents superior property fire protection.
Eisele said, when he became chief in 2018, the city’s ISO rating was 4, and achieving a rating of 3 was one of his key objectives.
“That feat is quite rare for a volunteer fire department, which I embraced as a challenge,” he said.
The chief said the city’s rating improved from 62.94 in 2019 to the current 72.91. He noted that the Gray Fire Department is only 7.09 points from an ISO rating of Class 2.
He said the ISO inspections are conducted by a group of trained, professional evaluators that assess almost every fire department in the U.S. The criteria they evaluate include the number of personnel on duty, training levels, availability of water, response times and equipment.
“The purpose of the ISO is to give insurance companies a uniform system on which to base their insurance premiums,” Eisele said.
The chief said the city’s improved ISO rating will likely result in lower insurance costs for Gray residents. He advised homeowners to check with their insurance professional after March to determine if a rate reduction is possible.
