Avoca gets lower fire ISO rating

— AVOCA - The Insurance Services Office (I.S.O.) has completed an exhaustive review of The Avoca Fire & Rescue Department resulting in an overall I.S.O. rating improvement.

Effective immediately, the I.S.O. rating within five miles of either of its two fire stations has been lowered from a rating of 10 (I.S.O.’s highest rating) to a rating of 6. After many months of preparation by Department personnel - and a four-month long I.S.O. review of Avoca’s manpower, equipment, training hours and infrastructure in the response area the I.S.O. determined that recent improvements in Avoca’s firefighting capability are sufficient for the new lower rating.

The I.S.O. rating of acommunity has a direct effect on the insurance premiums that individuals pay on their homes and especially on commercial buildings. The lower the I.S.O. rating on a scale of 1 to 10, the better the insurance rates are.

Just some of the items that I.S.O. reviews are:

◊Dispatch, 10 percent of the overall rating;

◊Fire Department, 50 percent of the overall rating: Pumping capabilities; aerial ladder capabilities; hours of training provided and attended by members;

response by members per call; commercial fire preplanning; number of fire stations for the community boundary served; hose and pump testing; and more; and

◊Response area: 40 percent of the overall rating:Available water storage capacity; water main and fire hydrant sizes throughout the response area; hydrant testing and more.

Avoca Fire and Rescue is a rural volunteer fire department founded and incorporated in 1979. Currently, there are 24 volunteer firefighters, many of whom are career full-time firefighters in Avoca’s neighboring cities. In its two stations, the department maintains eight fire trucks and a fire boat on Beaver Lake. The department is run by an all volunteer, nine-member board of directors made of leaders from the community. The fire chief is Frankie Elliott and board president is Lane Gurel.

More information about the I.S.O. Rating System may be found at www.iso.

com.

On the Record, Pages 3 on 11/17/2010