Fort Smith maintains ISO 2 rating

The city of Fort Smith was able to maintain its ISO Class 2 rating until 2014, but officials say a new fire station will be required to hold that low level beyond 2014.

Nationally recognized, the Insurance Services Office has since 1971 provided a standardized way for cities, businesses and individuals to measure a fire protection system. The lower the rating, the lower the insurance premiums.

Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack and Fort Smith Fire Department Chief Mike Richards announced Tuesday (May 3) that ISO approved the Class 2 rating for another three years.

Fort Smith was the first city in Arkansas to achieve an ISO 2 rating, according to a city press release. The release also noted that 14 Arkansas cities now have the distinction.

“Following an extensive review by the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), the final report issued to the city on Monday, May 2 indicates that, among other factors, the city scored well in the fire department’s structure fire suppression system and that the utility department provides an excellent water delivery system for firefighting, and the Fort Smith Fire Department’s ability to receive and handle fire alarms,” noted the city statement.

ISO fire rating factors include water supply (40% of the score), equipment (26%), personnel and training (24%), and alarm and dispatch (10%).

“Even with fiscal stresses to our general fund budget and in the utility department the past few years, our employees in the fire department and in the utility department continue to provide excellent services to our citizens every day,” Gosack said.

He said the city has “a lot of work ahead of us” to ensure the rating stays in place beyond 2014.

“Our average response time is 3 minutes and 11 seconds,” Richards said. “We’re proud of that. However, our response times are slower to some parts of the city because the city’s geographic growth has outstripped our department’s ability to respond to those growth areas. In order to maintain our ISO rating in 2014, we must make a commitment – to build Station 11 at Chaffee Crossing so that we can continue to protect life and property, and ensure lower insurance premium costs for all Fort Smith property owners.”

The city has estimated the cost at just short of $3 million to build and equip a fire station at Chaffee Crossing. It will cost about $900,000 a year to operate. The city is pursuing federal grants to help pay for construction, but building and operating the new fire station will soon require the board to make serious budget decisions.