Charleston Fire Department's ISO rating drops to 3
Read the ISO report
The Charleston Fire Department's best rating from the Insurance Services Office will drop from 1 to 3 effective May 1, according to information released by Fire Chief Thomas Carr and Mayor Joseph P. Riley today.
The ISO told the city its top rating could be reevaluated after the Sofa Super Store fire on Savannah Highway that killed nine firefighters in June 2007.
There likely will be no impact on homeowners' fire insurance bill, according to Crystal Churchill, an account representative with State Farm Insurance Companies in Charleston. She said St. Andrews and Summerville have ISO-3 ratings and fire insurance costs in both of those places is the same as in Charleston's ISO-1 rated areas. The insurance costs likely would go up if the ISO rating increased to 5 or higher, she said.
It was immediately unclear what impact the change would have on commercial properties.
An ISO split class rating of 3/9 means all properties located within five road miles of a recognized responding fire station and within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant receive the class 3. Properties located beyond 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant receive the class 9. When properties are located more than five road miles from a recognized responding fire station, class 10, or unprotected, applies.
The ISO, an independent agency, awarded the Class 1 rating for Charleston based on an evaluation in 1997, followed by periodic updates from Charleston officials regarding the city's fire alarm/communications system, the availability of water for firefighting and the operational readiness of the fire department, Mike Waters, ISO vice president, said shortly after the fire.
ISO Class 1 is the highest ranking possible for a fire department. About 50 departments nationwide have the rating. City fire trucks display the Class 1 designation, and firefighters wear an ISO 1 patch on their sleeves.
Read more about the fire rating today on Charleston.net and in Saturday's editions The Post and Courier.
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Comments
This article has 8 comment(s)
Posted by UberBlitzkrieg on December 19, 2008 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The New ISO Rating is now a 3-9. It originally was a 1-9.
Posted by Pluffmuddy on December 19, 2008 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Surprised?
Posted by redreader on December 19, 2008 at 1:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
way to go, Rusty!
Posted by bootlicked on December 19, 2008 at 6:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It wasn't even a 3/9 when the 1 was issued. It is funny how the deparment is actually moving in the right direction and they have to be reminded of the Thomas curse. He b/s'd the iso man to get the first rating and touted the dept. as da bes. Rusty Thomas has always been and always will be a joke just like his class one rating. Riley you are never going to admit that you and RT are responsable for the fire dept. and the deaths the have endured. I'm sure Riley and Rusty are saying see what happened since the Thomases have left.
Posted by UberBlitzkrieg on December 19, 2008 at 8:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It was a 1/9 when it was originally issued. The 9 was for Daniels Island for the most part.
Posted by bootlicked on December 19, 2008 at 9:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I know what they rated the city but I'm saying a 1 should have ever been a part of the rating. The city firedept. was a class 1 fluster cuck under the directing of the Thomases and their friends. I remember at that time eng. 18 was the only truck on daniels island and you had to keep the garden hose flowing in the tank so you would have water because the pump packing leaked so bad. It only had five hundred gallons to begin with. This is when Rusty came up with the bright idea to add a deluge gun on each engine and two sections of three inch to hook to them. Half of the trucks couldn't even flow their capacity but always passed the pump test given by his daddy and the "shop". If anything needed work it was your fault it had broke. Then if it was fixed it was mostly jury rigged. What a class 1 outfitt.
Posted by bootlicked on December 19, 2008 at 9:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would love to be the one to sand the class one's off of the fire trucks. How about those silly patches. We all thought this was like the redneck with the little dude peeing on a ford logo that you used to see on the jacked up dodges or chevys. What is soooo funny is all of the people defending Rusty and his rangers after the fire all used the class one designation as a way to say how Rusty was being wrongly accused of being an idiot. Look at the CFD's official website at how proffessional it looks.(ha ha) Come on Mark Ruepell it needs a make over. It even tells you about how the city is only one of fifty or so in the nation to recieve a class one.
Posted by UberBlitzkrieg on December 19, 2008 at 10:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
10-4. I understand now