4.4. SR 05-15-2000~ity of
iveF
MEMORANDUM
Item #
/4.4.
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor & City Council
Bruce A. West, Fire Chief
May 15, 2000
Insurance Services Office (ISO) Survey Report
The Elk River Fire Department has been working on the goal of reducing our
fire protection class rating for our community. The Elk River Fire Department
had a ISO Survey conducted in 1991 and the rating for our community was
established at a Class 5. In February 1995, I obtained a copy of the
classification report to check to see where improvements could be made within
our department to lower our fire protection class rating. The Elk River Fire
Department studied the report and began a project to reduce our fire
classification rating. The results of the 1991 study rated the Elk River Fire
Department at 50.99 percent, which was a high 5 rating. Our goal was to
reduce this rating one full classification or more. The lower the fire protection
class rating, the better the fire department is recognized under the Insurance
Services office.
A great deal of work and effort of many of the Elk River firefighters were
involved to complete this project. The ISO rating affects the insurance
premiums of the citizens and, specifically, the businesses within our
community. For the average homeowner, the lowering of our fire protection
class rating to a Class 4 will not have a significant impact on their insurance
premiums. In general, the insurance industry uses Class 3 to Class 7 for
categorizing residential insurance premiums.
For the business community, each time the fire protection class rating lowers,
they should realize a 5-7 percent drop in their business insurance premiums.
The Elk River Fire Department believes this has a significant impact on our
commercial and industrial facilities in reference to their fire insurance
premiums. Our department has made significant improvements in many areas
related to the ISO Survey Report.
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
I would like to quickly review the enclosed classification details in reference to
the ISO Report. The new Sherburne County Communications Center has
shown a slight increase from the 1991 survey to the 1998 survey. Ensuring the
proper equipment on the pumpers and ladders has increased our rating in
reference to credit for engines and ladders. One very important area surveyed
is in reference to the amount of pumpers for our community. Currently, the
Elk River Fire Department has three pumper trucks and one ladder truck
within the department. It is of utmost importance that the Elk River Fire
Department has a minimum of three pumpers, which would give one pumper
in reserve in case of mechanical failure of one of the three pumper trucks.
Under the ISO Survey Item 513 and 523 is the credit for engine companies and
reserve pumpers that had a significant increase from the 1991 comparison to
the 1991 survey.
Two areas that the Fire Department is constantly working on for improvement
are in reference to company personnel, Item 571, and training, Item 581. The
credit for company personnel is derived by the average responding firefighters
per call throughout the year. Our 1998 actual showed a slight decrease from
the 1991 comparison. This was a result of our roster of firefighters not being at
the maximum level of 35 due to firefighters who resigned and/or moved for
personal reasons. Training of the Elk River firefighters and our training
facility showed a slight improvement from the 1991 survey and this is one area
that we are constantly attempting to improve. In conjunction with training is
the pre-planning of our commercial and industrial facilities within our
community. One of our goals, along with our fire inspection at each individual
facility, will be a complete pre-plan available to our firefighters when
responding to a business and/or commercial facility.
The water supply within our community continues to receive high ratings. The
water supply classification details are Items 616, 621, and 631. I would like to
thank Elk River Municipal Utilities for providing frequent inspection of
hydrants, adequate hydrant distribution, and continual review of the type of
hydrants needed within our community. Without the excellent planning and
future vision of Elk River Utilities in reference to providing an adequate water
supply for our community, our rating in reference to water supply would not be
at the excellent level it currently maintains.
Once again, I would like to thank all of the firefighters of the Elk River Fire
Department in their assistance in this project. We have significantly lowered
our fire protection classification rating from a high 5 at 50.99 to a very low 4
rating of 67.71. The Elk River Fire Department is very close to improving our
fire protection classification rating to a Class 3. I am very proud of our
department's efforts in this project. I have attached a copy of the insurance
percentage decrease from classification to classification. You will note that
from a Class 5 to Class 4 drop in fire rating, a 5 percent decrease in insurance
premiums for our commercial and business facilities should be anticipated.
Please review the attached information in reference to the Insurance Services
Office Fire Protection Classification Survey Report. I will be present at the
May 15 council meeting to address this issue and answer any questions the
Mayor and Council may have. If you have any questions prior to the council
meeting, please feel free to call me at the station, (763) 441-4919.
INSURANCE SERVICES OFFICE, INC.
I I I N. CANAL STREET SUITE 950 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60606-7270 (312) 930-0070 (800) 444.4554 FAX: (312) 930-0017
CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
Municipality: ELK RIVER
Date Surveyed: October 19, 1998
State: MN Population: 15,000
Total Credit: 67.71 Class: 4 / 9
RECEIVING AND HANDLING FIRE ALARMS
This section of the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule reviews the facilities provided for the
general public to report fires, and for the operator on duty at the communication center to
dispatch fire department companies to the fires.
I~' Credit
Actn:,_~l
1. Credit for Telephone Service (Item414) I~ ]
This item reviews the facilities provided for the public
to report fires, including the listing of fire and business
numbers in the telephone directory.
Maximum
2. Credit for Operators (Item 422)
This item reviews the number of operators on-duty
at the communication center to handle fire calls.
3. Credit for Dispatch Circuits (Item 432)
This item reviews the dispatch circuit facilities used to
transmit alarms to fire department members.
3.so s.oo
4. Total Credit for Receiving and Handling Fire Alarms:
Relative Classification for Receiving and Handling Fire Alarms:
8.42 7//~ ,0.00
2
Page 1 CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
Municipality: ELK RIVER State: MN Population: 15,000
Date Surveyed: October 19, 1998 Total Credit: 67.71 Class: 4 / 9
FIRE DEPARTMENT
This section of the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule reviews the engine and ladder-service
companies, equipment carried, response to fires, training and available fire fighters.
1. Credit for Engine Companies (Item 513)
This item reviews the number of engine companies and the
hose equipment carried.
Credit
Actual Maximum
9.68 L~,~'~,, 10.00
2. Credit for Reserve Pumpers (Item 523)
This item reviews the number of reserve pumpers, their pump
capacity and the hose equipment carried on ea
0.72 ~ 2 9 1.00
3. Credit for Pump Capacity (Item 532)
This item reviews the total available pump capacity.
4. Credit for Ladder-Service Companies (Item 549)
5.oo 5.oo
This item reviews the number of ladder and service
companies and the equipment carried.
/.5-5' .oo
5. Credit for Reserve Ladder-Service Companies (Item 553)
This item reviews the number of reserve ladder and
service trucks, and the equipment carried.
0.39 , 0 ~ 1.00
Page 2 CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
Municipality: ELK RIVER State: MN Population: 15,000
Date Surveyed: October 19, 1998 Total Credit: 67.71 Class: 4 / 9
FIRE DEPARTMENT
(continued
6. Credit for Distribution (Item 561)
This item reviews the percent of the built-upon area of the
city which has an adequately-equipped, responding first-due
engine company within 1.5 miles and an adequately-equipped,
responding ladder-service company within 2.5 miles.
Actual
3.37
Credit
Maximum
/~, 5'q 4.00
7. Credit for Company Personnel (Item 571)
This item reviews the average number of equivalent
fire fighters and company officers on duty with
existing companies.
3.20 Z2~ 15.00+
8. Credit for Training (Item 581)
This item reviews the training facilities and their use.
3.96 ~0 9.00
9. Total Credit for Fire Department:
29.59 ] t~,~'t~ 50.00+
Relative Classification for Fire Department:
+ This indicates that credit for manning is open-ended, with no maximum credit for this item.
Page 3 CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
Municipality: ELK RIVER State: MN Population: 15,000
Date Surveyed: October 19, 1998 Total Credit: 67.71 Class: 4/9
WATER SUPPLY
This section of the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule reviews the water supply system that is
available for fire suppression in the city.
1. Credit for the Water System (Item 616)
This item reviews the supply works, the main capacity
and hydrant distribution.
Credit
Actual Maximum
I? 1
31.68 ~qC~'35.00
2. Credit for Hydrants (Item 621)
This item reviews the type of hydrants, and method of
installation.
1.96 I, qCg .oo
3. Credit for Inspection and Condition of Hydrants (Item 631)
This item reviews the frequency of inspections of hydrants
and their condition
2.10 /~ ~'~)3.00
4. Total Credit for Water Supply:
Relative Classification for Water Supply:
35.74 ~,2, ~ 40.00
Page 4 CLASSIFICATION DETAILS
Grading Sheet For:
ELK RIVER, MN
Public Protection Class: 4 / 9
Surveyed:
October 19, 1998
Feature
Credit
Assigned
Receiving and Handling Fire Alarms
Fire Department
Water Supply
*Divergence
8.42%
29.59%
35.74%
-6.04%
Total Credit
67.71%
Maximum
Credit
10.00%
50.00%
40.00%
100.00%
The Public Protection Class is based on the total percentage credit as follows:
Class %
1 90.00 or more
2 80.00 to 89.99
3 70.00 to 79.99
4 60.00 to 69.99
5 50.00 to 59.99
6 40,,00 to 49.99
7 30.00 to 39.99
8 ~ 20.00 to 29.99
9 10.00 to 19.99
10 0 to 9.99
*Divergence is a reduction in credit to reflect a difference in the relative credits for Fire
Department and Water Supply.
*The above Classification has been developed for fire insurance rating purposes only.
'i~ase(J on this example, a general percentage rate change can be developed for
Public Protection Class impact on a specific property. Only the major factors are shown
in the rate structure. This is based on wood frame construction. Rate factors would
change for other classes of construction.?
Change
Class 10 to Class 9
Class 9 to Class 8
Class 8 to Class 7
Class 7 to Class 6
Class 6 to Class 5
Class 5 to Class 4
Class 4 to Class 3
Class 3 to Class 2
Percent Decrease
15%
9%
5%
5%
5%
5%
8%
3%
The incremental percents of change reveal that the highest reductions occur
between Class 10 (unprotected), Class 9 (semi-protected), and Class 8 (protected); plus
the change from Class 4 (protected) to Class 3 (protected). These marked differences
reflect significant changes in fire suppression capability as determined through historical
record analysis. It is emphasized that the above rate change factors are general in nature
and do not reflect any specific rate deviations. Furthermore, these rate relationships only
apply to specific rated property.
3.10 Experience Rating for Larqe Cities
The insurance industry has determined that some cities and counties, generally
over 250,000 population, have sufficient loss costs to warrant experience rating. This
means that insurance premiums in a given city are adjusted annually based on Loss Cost.
Loss Cost represents the aggregate monetary value insurance companies lose by doing
The percent of rate change should be used as a general guide only. Adjustment
factors are used by each state.
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