City announces improved ISO rating
Russellville Fire Chief Joe Mansell announces the city’s improved ISO rating, from a Class 4 to a Class 2.
“It just doesn’t get much better than this,” said Mayor David Grissom. “This is huge for the people we serve.”
The assertion comes with the announcement that Russellville has achieved a jump in ISO rating – from a Class 4 to a Class 2. The rating indicates the city’s ability to respond to a fire emergency and represents the combined capabilities of the fire department (constituting 50 percent of the score), the water department (40 percent) and the communications department (10 percent).
“Had any of the three not given their all, we wouldn’t be here today,” Grissom said. “It’s just a testament to our leadership in the departments and to our employees.”
According to Fire Chief Joe Mansell, the departments were able to follow a strict and specific set of guidelines to meet Class 2 specifications, which focused on training, water capacity and flow, number of hydrants, response time to calls and more. Water superintendent Doug Clement and foreman Eric Hill were on board, as was 9-1-1 administrator Brandon James.
“This is a major accomplishment,” Mansell said. He thanked the Russellville firefighters for their part in making it happen. “We had a dream of where we wanted to be, and it took them being willing to jump on board to try to get it to that point.”
Out of 50,000 fire departments in the nation, 917 are a Class 2. Eighteen of those are in Alabama, out of a total of 1,535 departments in Alabama.
“This right here proves the mayor and council are doing everything they can to make these departments better,” Mansell said. He praised the city government for its willingness to fund the efforts of the fire department – to put up the necessary money to allow the department to obtain top-notch equipment and provide superior service and safety to the community.
“This is another way of letting the citizens know we’re doing all we can for them,” Mansell said.
The new rating will provide “a substantial benefit to the people of the city of Russellville,” Grissom said. For one thing, it means that response time for the department is 385 seconds – meaning that, 90 percent of the time, from the time a call comes in to the communications office to the time firefighters are on scene is barely over six minutes – no matter what time of a day, no matter where firefighters are when they get the call.
For another thing, the improvement will mean a substantial difference in both residential and commercial insurance premiums, which Grissom said will be attractive to industries looking to locate here – meaning a boost to the economy through revenue and job availability.
“This will be something that will save them dollars, and they like to save dollars,” Grissom said.
Russellville’s ISO rating is now superior to that of the areas around it, and Grissom and Mansell said the accomplishment is the realization of a dream and goal for Russellville that even pre-dates Mansell’s time as chief.
“This is something that didn’t just happen overnight – it took a lot of hard work and dedication,” Grissom said.
“This was a major accomplishment I wanted to see happen,” Mansell agreed.
From upgrading computer and record-keeping systems, to hiring a fire marshal to inspect every single one of the city’s business, to purchasing better equipment, it took a number of facets to achieve the Class 2 rating, and everyone involved stressed teamwork.
“I’ve always said we’ve got one of the best water departments around, and the communications is one of the top-notch communications around,” Mansell said. “It took us all working together.”
For more information on ISO, visit www.isomitigation.com.
