Fire Protection Rating in Middleport Improves

The long awaited results of the November 2014 fire protection rating survey have been received from the Insurance Services Office (ISO), and it is good news for the Village of Middleport. Fire Chief Jeff Darst announced that the Public Protection Classification (PPC) has improved from a Class 5 to Class 4.

ISO is an independent company that serves insurance companies, communities, fire departments, insurance regulators, and others by providing information about risk. ISO’s expert staff collects information about municipal fire suppression efforts in communities throughout the United States. In each of these communities, ISO analyzes the relevant data and assigns a PPC grade – a number from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents an exemplary fire suppression program and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria.

A community’s investment in fire mitigation is a proven and reliable predictor of future fire losses. Statistical data on insurance losses bears out the relationship between excellent fire protection – as measured by the PPC Program – and low fire losses. So, insurance companies use PPC information for marketing, underwriting, and to help establish fair premiums for home owners and commercial fire insurance. In general, the price of fire insurance in a community with a good PPC grade is substantially lower than in a community with a poor PPC grade, assuming all other factors are equal.

ISO’s PPC Program evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria incorporating nationally recognized standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association and the American Water Works Association. A community’s PPC grade depends on: needed fire flows, emergency communications, fire department, and water supply. ISO has evaluated and classified over 48,000 fire protection areas across the United States using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule.

The official rating for Middleport is now 4/4X, which is known as a split classification. The first number is the class that applies to properties within 5 road miles of the responding fire station and within 1000 feet of a creditable water supply, such as a fire hydrant. The second number is the class that applies to properties within 5 road miles of the fire station, buy beyond 1000 feet of a creditable water supply.

Chief Darst commented that according to the 2015 published countrywide distribution of communities by the PPC grade shows that only 20% are rated at class 4 or better. “For a community the size of Middleport to receive this rating is quite an achievement. This was a combined effort from the fire department and the Village Administrator, who made extensive upgrades to the water system and fire hydrants possible. Much of the credit also goes to the citizens of Middleport who have stood behind the fire department with their support and tax dollars that bring our visions to reality.”

Property owners in Middleport should contact their insurance carrier to determine how the new classification will affect individual policies.