
LOWERING OUR ISO RATING
VOLUNTEERS CORNER
Lowering an ISO rating takes time and careful planning. The Maine (NY) Fire Department decided to lower its totally rural rating and convert its basic life support EMS service to one with full adanced life support capabilities at the same time—no small task for a small town.
The all-volunteer department— with 30 firefighting and 25 EMS personnel-covers approximately 35 square miles in upstate New York and protects a population of 3,500. The fire department averages 100 calls a year, the emergency squad 300. Their combined 1990 budget was SI 00,000. Their fleet consists of seven vehicles—two engines, a pumper/ tanker, a heavy rescue unit, a brush truck, an ambulance, and a critical care response unit.
In order to improve service to the community and improve the ISO rating, the fire department focused on improving its water delivery capability. We needed the following:
- A new tanker. We had to significantly improve our gpm delivery rate but could afford to purchase only one piece of equipment.
- A large-diameter base system. We wanted to establish LDH relays in areas that required large flows.
- A dry hydrant system. Delivery capability is of little value without the required municipal water system (we had none) or rural water source points well established and operational.
- Improved record keeping. We needed a way to keep track of data— especially SOPs, inventory, preplans, and personnel files.
NEW APPARATUS
First we worked on a replacement for our 20-year-old tanker. We had to take our existing unit out of service for six weeks to retrofit it anyway, so we used it to test ideas for the new apparatus. Our final specifications were for a tanker/pumper with a 1,000-gpm pump and a 3,000-gallon tank. We decided to purchase a used chassis, which would cut our costs considerably.
This apparatus would be the most costly one ever proposed to our taxpayers, so we formed a committee of private citizens to help us in the decision-making process. Involving community members in the planning process eliminated misinformation and rumors of excessive costs. We informed the committee of costs and other considerations. The committee members, who had no “special interests” to influence their thinking, answered citizens’ questions about the apparatus. The bond issue was voted on and passed.
LDH SYSTEM
We wanted to equip both engines with 1,000 feet of four-inch hose. Using local grants and additional tax money, we were able to equip both engines with hose, relief valves, Siamese connections, and distribution valves. The tanker/pumper also is equipped with the necessary features to make it an integral part of the LDH system—we did this by enlarging incoming relief valves and adapters to accommodate LDH.
DRY HYDRANTS
During our first ISO review in 1986, we learned that we actually had only one “approved” drafting source in the district. While we knew of and used other locations, this one source—a dry hydrant we had installed earlier— was the only one approved for yearround rating purposes. Our initial rating change, from Class 9-C to Class 7-B, effective in 1987, was confined to using this one water source. (We also had only one engine equipped with LDH at the time.)
We began a project to install a system of dry hydrants. We approached our state assemblyman for assistance and were awarded S6,000. After selecting the 10 best water sources from a list of more than 30 sites, we approached the property owners. We showed them pictures from our first hydrant installation to explain what was involved. Also, we contacted several construction contractors. They donated the use of their heavy equipment and an operator, and the firefighters provided the manual labor for installation. Two supply firms donated PVC pipe, and we ended up with more than 300 feet of sixinch schedule 80 pipe. We purchased glue, primer, connectors, strainers, and hydrant heads ourselves.
We installed nine hydrants over the next year. We color-coded them and marked off 1,000-foot and 2,000-foot distances with four-foot-high posts as markers to eliminate guesswork in the wintertime, when other markers are buried under the snow.
Each computerized preplan contains detailed information about how many engines (from our fleet and mutual aid) are required to complete the LDH relays to develop the required water flow. A bound copy of these preplans is kept in our communications room for review and training. Copies also are on board all chiefs’ vehicles and the first-due engine and rescue vehicles.
Another problem that came up during the initial ISO review was that our written SOP assigned one of our engines to the water supply site, taking it out of operation as an engine company at the fire scene. (We couldn’t use the pumper/tanker in this case because it was designated for use as a tanker.) A minimum of two engines are required by ISO at the scene of a structure fire. This prompted us to approach Union Center, our neighboring fire company, about 24-hour mutual aid on structure alarms. We already had an agreement to assist each other from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, so this was a logical extension. We automatically receive a tanker and two engines on commercial structure alarms and one engine and one tanker on residential alarms; we send one engine and one tanker on structure alarms to any part of their jurisdiction outside their municipal water system.
RECORD KEEPING
We were able to purchase a personal computer through a grant from International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), and our members input the data. We computerized existing records, including information on hose tests, pump tests, preplans, inventory, SOPs, bylaws, forms, training records, dry hydrant flow tests, and personnel. This is a time-consuming task and is ongoing. The data provided significant support during our review.
NEW RATING
In November 1988, two years after our initial review, the ISO again reviewed us, examining our new hydrant installations, records, LDH capabilities, and mutual-aid agreement. As a result, we received a Class 5-B rating, effective November 1990, using tanker shuttles and LDH relays with water drawn entirely from natural water sources.
No sooner did we receive the rating when our system was put to the test: We were called to a working fire in an abandoned 2 1/2-story wood-frame farmhouse with balloon construction. The extent of involvement on arrival indicated a defensive exterior attack was our only choice. We used a fourtanker shuttle with a 1,500-gpm water source engine from Union Center on a dry hydrant. The four tankers had a combined capacity of 8,600 gallons and sustained a flow through two portable deluge sets operated by the two engines at the scene.
EMS CHANGES
Our emergency squad had been in existence for 12 years. It provided intermediate-level EMT service. The squad wanted to increase its service, but the prospect was a costly one. Again, the squad approached the public. We launched a media package and asked other organizations for assistance. Through fund-raising events, donations, and available tax funds, we raised the money we needed.
While training was underway, the squad approached the Board of Fire Commissioners and requested a critical care response vehicle. We were able to purchase a state-bid vehicle with tax money and added lights, sirens, and radios purchased with donated funds. Our trained critical care technicians rotate taking the vehicle to work and home so that it can respond directly to the scene while other crew members go to the station to get the ambulance.
To improve response we purchased pagers, and with a monitor/defibrillator, radio system, and the newly equipped vehicle, we provide full advanced life support service.
Since these changes began, we have received additional pieces of apparatus. We were able to afford them only with the community’s help and support. We learned an important lesson through all this—that by constantly advising the community of our efforts to improve services for them, we were able to obtain their support and purchase needed equipment for improved fire protection *