North Ridgeville Fire Insurance Rating Improves

ISO (Insurance Services Office, Inc.) recently announced that the City of North Ridgeville’s fire insurance rating has improved. A fire score, or Public Protection Classification, is a score from 1 to 10 that indicates how well-protected a community is by its fire department, where a lower number is better.

“You should think of ISO as a report card for how the fire department handles fire emergencies in the community,” explained Fire Chief John Reese. North Ridgeville improved to Class 3 from a previous rating of Class 4.

“The Fire Department does a great job protecting our community,” said Mayor Kevin Corcoran. “With the community’s support, we’ve been able to improve our facilities and offer more training opportunities to our employees. The result is a safer city for our residents and businesses.”

Reese was also quick to credit to North Ridgeville residents and city officials for prioritizing safety and supporting the work of his department. “First and most importantly, we could have never made these improvements without the continued support of the community,” said Reese.

ISO evaluates four main criteria to determine a department’s fire score, which are quality of the local fire department, availability of water supply, needed fire flows and emergency communications.

Reese said training played a big factor in improving the city’s rating.

“The training facilities that were built into the new fire station on Ranger Way have enabled us not only to improve our training, but also have made it possible for us to provide more classes and increase the training hours our staff receives annually,” said Reese. “Another factor was technology updates that the fire department has made that have allowed us to better track our training, response times and overall operational statistics.”

More than just bragging rights for the Fire Department, the improved ISO rating is a benefit for the community, as well.

“The insurance companies use the grade to determine property insurance rates in the community,” said Reese. “The better the fire department rating, the less property insurance will cost in that community. More importantly, a better grade is a reflection of a safer community.”

A rating of 5 is the median and most common rating fire departments received. A Class 3 rating puts North Ridgeville in the top 14% of fire departments in the nation.

“The fire department staff is incredibly proud of receiving a Class 3 rating,” said Reese. “Their commitment to improving our service and making North Ridgeville a safe community is evident in the work that they perform each day.”