Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fire chief outlines ISO downgrade risk, training shortfalls and a 3-step plan; council sends proposal for a training battalion chief to finance committee
Summary
Stafford’s fire chief told the council on March 19 that an ISO review recommended regression to Class 2 because of personnel and training shortfalls, and he asked the council to consider a dedicated battalion chief for training as the final step in a three-part plan to preserve a Class 1 rating.
The Stafford Fire Department presented the results of its 2024 Insurance Services Office (ISO) evaluation to the City Council on March 19 and outlined a plan intended to preserve the department’s Class 1 rating.
Fire leadership said the department scored 86.29 out of a possible 106.5 points on ISO’s grading rubric and that ISO had recommended a regression to Class 2 pending corrective steps. Chief Richard DeCamillo (presenting) identified the primary deficits as company-personnel credit (available staffed responders) and training documentation and delivery. "Training in the blue box is where we need to pick up points," he told council, explaining budget cuts during and after the pandemic reduced training allocations and that ISO credits had been lost for both documented company training and Texas A&M Disaster City courses.
The chief outlined a three-part plan his staff and an ISO consultant say is most cost-effective: (1) improve deployment credit through earlier mutual‑aid responses (already completed with neighboring departments), (2) bolster daily staffing by creating six firefighter positions (four of six already filled), and (3) create a dedicated battalion chief training officer to centralize, deliver and document training. The chief said two steps are already in place: mutual-aid agreements and hiring additional firefighters; he requested council consideration of the third step — a training battalion chief position — to secure ISO credits for training and documentation.
Staff presented estimated costs. The chief said the battalion-chief training position would annualize at about $180,000 for salary and benefits (with a remainder-of-year cost of approximately $75,000 for FY25). He said his ISO consultant projects the department could score in the mid-90s with the package implemented, which should sustain the Class 1 rating after ISO reviews and a 12-month period of documented data. The chief also cautioned that ISO will require 12 months of follow-up data, and that a three-person ISO review panel may be strict when evaluating documentation.
Council discussion focused on budget timing and whether the city can absorb the recurring cost. Council moved to direct the fire chief to meet with HR and finance to prepare a proposal that includes funding options and a proposed budget amendment and to take that proposal to the finance committee on April 7; the motion passed unanimously. Council members noted that if Stafford were to sustain a Class 2 it would not immediately affect homeowners but could push the city toward a Class 3 in future evaluations, at which point residential rates could be affected. The chief said a regression to Class 2 could increase commercial insurance premiums regionwide and estimated an illustrative commercial premium increase across the commercial tax base, attributing the figure to ISO-related modeling.
Council asked staff to develop written costs, benefit projections and procurement pathways and to present them to the finance committee and then to council. The council did not take final budget action on the new position at the March 19 meeting; it set a schedule to receive a clear budget proposal on April 7.
