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Port Washington fire chief outlines ISO score, training gaps and public safety building bid schedule
Summary
Fire officials said the city's ISO public protection classification remained a 3 (score ~73.04), noted training and personnel gaps that lowered points, described plans for a training tower and previewed a Feb. 27 bid opening for the new public safety building.
Chief Debore (fire chief) told the Police & Fire Commission that the departments 2024 data produced an Insurance Services Office (ISO) score of about 73.04, which maintains a public protection classification of 3 on the ISO 1—10 scale.
The nut: ISO scores affect residential and commercial fire insurance; Chief Debore explained the department lost points mainly in company personnel and training, and said planned facility and staffing changes could raise the score at future audits.
ISO scoring and what lowered points: Debore said the audit used pre-referendum staffing and that a full-time person currently counts as three paid-on-call personnel for scoring purposes. "We'll see a drastic improvement next time," Debore said of company personnel points, but he cautioned that achieving the staffing levels required for maximal points would be difficult given current call volume.
Training and facility points were also constrained. Debore said roughly 40% of the training category relates to having a facility capable of live structure-fire training; without such a facility the department scored low in that area. He told commissioners a training tower and a site meeting applicable specifications "could probably max that out" of the available points in the training-facility portion of the audit and that live-fire training capability would also improve company training scores.
Public safety building timeline: Debore reported the bid packages for the new public safety building had been released and that bid opening was scheduled for Feb. 27. He said exterior renderings and design refinements were ongoing and that staff were finalizing detailed specifications for furniture and equipment.
Automatic aid and dispatch changes: Debore described county chiefs' recent steps to implement limited automatic aid. Instead of waiting for CAD system code changes, dispatchers will be given guidance and, in some cases, autonomy to page additional resources when specific 9-1-1 information meets thresholds (for example, visible flames or a mass-casualty patient count). Debore said the change is intended to reduce response times and could also provide some ISO benefit.
Commissioner questions and context: Commissioners asked whether the department could reach an ISO class 2; Debore said it was possible but would probably require additional full-time staffing beyond current plans. He also said the department lost about 0.9 points because the state has not adopted the newer NFPA 1 fire code (the audit used older, state-recognized editions), and he described "divergence" values the auditor had explained as part of ISOs statistical formula.
No formal votes were taken on ISO scoring or the building during the report; Debore recommended continuing to refine building specifications and to proceed to bid opening as scheduled.
Ending: Debore encouraged commissioners to review the mailed packet that included the full ISO packet and exterior renderings and said department staff would pursue opportunities to request an earlier audit if warranted by changes to water-system or staffing data.
