CJC Fire Protection District Receives ISO Class 1 Rating

Central Jackson County Fire Protection District (CJCFPD) achieved two goals recently that directly impacts citizens, visitors, and businesses.

In August, CJCFPD received their third accreditation from the Commission on Fire Service Accreditation, To achieve this five-year accreditation, CJCFPD undergoes an extensive evaluation of all programs and divisions. The process looks at finances, response, public education, and training, along with other functions and compares those to recognized standard. A site team consisting of fire chiefs from across the country then visit CJCFPD and confirms all the information presented is accurate and factual. Following the site visit, the team makes a recommendation to the commission to award the 5-year accreditation.

During the October 2018 CJCFPD Board of Directors meeting, the Insurance Service Office (ISO) presented an ISO Public Protection Class I rating, the highest rating possible, to the department. The rating is based on evaluation of response, water supplies, training, fire prevention, and other capabilities to determine a risk class for residential and commercial properties, which can affect insurance costs.

CJCFPD Deputy Chief Eddie Saffell explains that while the rating reflects well on CJCFPD, it can also positively affect residents and businesses in the area.

“Most insurance companies base our rates on an ISO rating or some hybrid of their formula. Typically, residential rates are only affected by an ISO rating of 4 and above but are occasionally changed with a lower rating. Ratings below a 4 can directly impact commercial properties by as much as 20% rate decrease, again, depending on the company. This actually means more to economic development in that, a lot of companies look at community benefits when choosing a site: schools, ISO rating, police protection, etc. This can bring new business in and help us retain existing business,” Saffell said.

CJCFPD is one of only 90 departments out of 259 agencies worldwide that carry both an ISO Class I rating and are accredited.