Taos fire department regresses in new ISO review; staffing and water infrastructure cited as key issues

Town fire officials briefed the Taos Town Council on Jan. 27 about a recent Insurance Services Office (ISO) public protection classification inspection that placed Taos in a 5/5Y category, down from a class 4 in an earlier cycle.

Assistant/Fire Department presenter Eric (identified during the presentation) told the council the ISO score is composed of three main components: fire department operations (50%), water supply (40%), and dispatch (10%). He said the department scored 54.25 points under the latest ISO model, which uses updated formulas and a different grading approach than earlier inspections.

The presentation identified the principal drivers of the regression: staffing and deployment (personnel accounts for 30% of possible points), training (ISO emphasizes structural firefighting training and requires live‑burn hours), and ladder/engine company availability. Eric said Taos currently staffs one engine company 24/7 and that ISO expects municipal departments of Taos’ size to demonstrate capacity equivalent to two staffed engines and a ladder service for many structural fire scenarios. He explained how ISO treats on‑duty versus volunteer personnel in scoring and said volunteers are increasingly hard to rely on during daytime hours because of work commitments.

On the water side, fire staff said Taos has strong apparatus and pump capacity (several engines and reserves) but that some hydrants and distribution flows do not meet ISO’s distance/flow standards for high‑flow buildings in certain areas. Public works is investigating hydrant test data and prioritizing repairs, the presenter said.

Councilors raised several financing and policy questions: whether reverting to an earlier volunteer model would improve ISO scores (staff and presenters said volunteer numbers have fallen and relying on volunteers is not realistic), whether reducing the district size would help (staff said municipal hazard obligations — hospitals, large occupancies — make smaller district size of limited effect), and the impact of new building/higher density on ISO requirements (growth can increase hazard classification and required response levels).

State and federal grant options were discussed. Fire staff said the town applied for a FEMA SAFER hiring grant and was denied but remains eligible to reapply; they also described a State Fire Marshal grant that could fund up to 11 positions with a full first‑year match, 50% in year two and local absorption thereafter. The department also plans to coordinate burn training with nearby training facilities and other departments (Espanola and Socorro were mentioned) to meet required live‑burn hours.

Ending: Councilors expressed support for boosting staffing and said they would pursue regional partnerships and grants to increase the department’s capacity. Staff said they will submit an ISO improvement plan and pursue funding/grant opportunities; councilors asked staff to return with cost estimates and a timeline for staffing and water‑system improvements.