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Fire chief: staffing is key to lowering Everman's ISO rating and residents' insurance costs
Summary
Fire leadership told the council that the city's Insurance Services Office (ISO) re‑evaluation is likely to return a Class 3 rating and that additional on‑duty staffing would be required to reach Class 2. The chief provided response-time data and training updates; the ISO submission is complete and a result is expected later in the year.
Everman — Fire leadership told the Everman City Council on Sept. 9 that an ISO re‑evaluation submitted by the city is likely to yield a Class 3 rating and that the primary remaining barrier to reaching Class 2 is on‑scene staffing levels.
The fire chief reviewed workload and performance metrics for the period June 25 through Sept. 5 and said the department handled 232 calls in that span with an average response time of 4 minutes 18 seconds. Overlapping incidents — when crews are already committed to an active call and another incident occurs — accounted for 25 incidents, or about 11 percent of the calls during the pulled timeframe.
The chief said the ISO assessor’s preliminary feedback indicated the city was “shooting for 3,” and that "the difference... between us receiving a 2 and staying at a 3 would be staffing." He told council that ISO evaluates the number of on‑scene personnel within eight minutes of the alarm and that each additional firefighter on scene carries weight toward lowering the class.
Current shift staffing was described as 3 on duty on two shifts and 4 on duty on one shift (3/3/4). The chief said an adequate target for ISO criteria would be five on duty with three on the fire apparatus and two on the ambulance. He also reiterated that achieving Class 2 would likely require a combination of equipment and further staffing increases; Class 1 would require substantially more staffing (the chief cited 12 on duty and other improvements).
Training and readiness updates included a company training emphasis and a driver‑operator course in progress; a new firefighter‑paramedic in field training was expected to complete training by the end of the month and join shift staffing. The chief said the city completed its ISO reevaluation submission and the department is awaiting the assessor’s final determination, which staff expects before the end of the calendar year.
The chief linked ISO performance to residents’ insurance costs, saying the assessor advised that moving down an ISO point can reduce home insurance premiums significantly; the chief noted the range discussed with council of “anywhere between $600 and $1,500 per ISO point” as a rough estimate of homeowner savings.
Council discussed ISO and funding in the context of the budget work already completed that evening; no new staffing appropriations were adopted at the meeting beyond the adopted budget.
