Insurance Service Office (ISO)

North Carolina Department of Insurance (DOI)

The fire department would like to take this opportunity to share with you information regarding ISO, DOI and YOUR fire department. ISO and DOI, two regulatory agencies responsible for evaluating and grading fire protection services, communicate with insurance agencies to determine the appropriate property insurance rates. The better the ISO/DOI evaluation score, the lower the insurance premium. Fire departments are evaluated approximately every 5 years with resulting insurance changes made accordingly. The rating/score that is awarded to a fire department is representative of how well your fire department is prepared to respond to an emergency. The overall score is rated on a scale of 1-10. With “1” representing the best fire protection preparedness possible and “10” representing no fire protection. The overall evaluation is broken down as follows:

50% Fire Department: training of staff, number of staff on call or responding to calls, quantity and type of trucks, personal protective equipment for all staff and documented records of all items mentioned above.

40% Water Supply: the number of fire hydrants, the size of waterlines, records of fire hydrant testing, accessibility to fire hydrants and documented records of all items mentioned above.

10% Communications: the 911 Communications Center, walkie talkies, mobile radios and documentation of all items listed above.

When ISO/DOI conducts an onsite assessment, to determine a fire departments level of readiness, they also inform the department what minimum requirements they should meet in order to provide adequate fire protection for that community. When ISO/DOI conducted our onsite assessment in 1998 they determined that we needed a Ladder Truck. A Ladder Truck has the ability to pump water from an elevated ladder and pump water at ground level at the same time. So it could be considered a combination truck. It would also have the capability to rescue citizens from any structure that has multiple floors, residential or commercial.

ISO/DOI makes the determination that a Ladder Truck is needed for a community as follows.

“Response areas with 5 buildings that are 3 stories or 35 feet or more in height, or with 5 buildings that have a Needed Fire Flow greater than 3500 gallons per minute, or any combination of these criteria, should have a ladder company. The height of all buildings in a city, including those protected by automatic sprinklers, is considered when determining the number of needed ladder companies.” (Section 540 of the ISO Fire Suppression Rating Schedule).

You do not have to look far to find 5 buildings that are 3 stories or 35 feet or more in height within our community. Churches, Industrial Buildings, Grocery stores, Residential homes, we have many such structures that meet this requirement. Gaston County Tax Office records indicate that we have 251 such structures that meet this requirement. ISO/DOI does not allow any credit to our grade for neighboring departments that assist us with this need. Since receiving this recommendation in 1998 our need for this equipment has, of course, significantly increased.

 Staffing

 Our department is staffed 100% by volunteers and most live right here in town. We have approximately 30 staff members and they are on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Approximately 400 hours of training is required for each new volunteer. They obtain the necessary training at local community colleges alongside career firefighters receiving the same training. Most staff attends classes around regular fulltime jobs spending an average of two days/nights a week. They are not compensated for this time away from their family. They simply have a willingness to contribute something to their community.

In 2004 we realized that we were no longer able to rely on adequate staff to be available during daytime hours to meet the communities need for adequate fire protection and emergency calls. The majority of our staff is at their regular job during this time and is not available to respond to an emergency call. We conducted a study that clearly showed us that this was a time of high call volume. To ensure adequate staffing and protect our ISO/DOI rating we started compensating members to staff our station from 800 am to 600 pm Monday-Friday. This additional coverage not only provided you with appropriate protection when you need it most we are now able to better perform , routine truck maintenance, hydrant inspections, hose testing, building maintenance, pump testing, SCBA maintenance, fire reports, pre fire survey reports and the detailed documentation required to maintain our current ISO/DOI score and YOUR insurance rating.

 What does fire protection cost you?

 The Town of Cramerton’s October 2009 newsletter indicated the population to be 3,472.

Our 2009-2010 budget is $148,800.

That’s equal to:

$42.85 per person a year

$3.57 a month

.82 cents a week

.11 cents a dayPer resident for protection 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week!

The need for a ladder truck with expanded capabilities was made over 10 years ago and our need has only increased. Additionally, that need escalates more with the potential for a school being built within our town limits. As our community grows and our need for fire protection increases, our ISO/DOI scores are in danger of reflecting a need for increases in YOUR Insurance premiums. Remember, half of the ISO/DOI score is equipment based. Our community is fortunate that there have been no casualties from our not having a ladder truck.

 Department Management

The fire department has a Board of Directors that manage the business of the fire department just like any other corporation. Fire protection is a sub contracted service that is provided to you by the Cramerton Volunteer Fire Department Inc. The Town of Cramerton and the Cramerton Volunteer Fire Department Inc negotiate a contract for this service annually. To be eligible to serve on this board you simply must reside within the town limits of Cramerton. Currently YOUR board members are

Clinton Seegars, Chairman Allen Lefler, Vice Chairman Larry Rick, Secretary

Bobby Padgett, Treasurer Frank Sanders, Board Member Sammy Oxendine, Board Member

We hope this has helped you to better understand YOUR fire department. We are your neighbors and we want to be adequately prepared to respond to your call in your time of need.