Bend Fire & Rescue improves fire protection rating after levy OK; could help lower home insurance premiums
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Bend Fire & Rescue announced Wednesday it has received an impressive fire protection ranking from the Insurance Services Office.
The department completed a 10-year evaluation by the Insurance Services Office and received a 2 ranking, which is an improvement from the last rating, which scored them at 4.
ISO ratings measure a community’s fire preparedness in case of emergency. A higher rating may lower insurance premiums for a homeowner.
Bend Fire & Rescue is one of 2,000 fire departments across the country that have earned a rating of 2, and this is primarily due to the construction of the Pilot Butte station and the staffing of the Advanced Life Support fire engine that serves the area, the agency said.
The Insurance Services Office (ISO) is an independent, for-profit organization that scores fire departments on how they are doing against its organization's standards to determine homeowner’s property costs. ISO analyzes areas of fire department staffing, training, available equipment, the ability to develop and maintain specified fire flows for a designated period, water systems and delivery capability, infrastructure, and reserve capability.
The ISO then takes this data and assigns a Public Protection Classification -- a number from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents exemplary fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area's fire-suppression program does not meet ISO minimum criteria.
Fire Chief Todd Riley said, “Earning the Class 2 rating is something that the community should be proud of. Staffing the Pilot Butte station really increased our capabilities to meet the growing demand for our services.”
Chief Riley added, “The voters supported us with our levy request, and that revenue will allow us to keep the Pilot Butte station fully staffed with firefighters.”
In May, a fire levy to maintain essential emergency services for Bend Fire & Rescue passed to maintain essential fire and emergency services like quick response times, retaining firefighters and paramedics and expanding ambulance services.
The five-year levy of 76 cents per $1,000 in taxable assessed property value does not go into effect until July 1, 2024, when the existing levy expires. This represents a 56-cent increase over the previous levy of 20 cents, which brings in about $2.5 million annually.
Proponents said the increase was vital to ensure that Bend Fire & Rescue is able maintain their response times and meet the demand of increased calls for service, as well as the potential to lower the ISO rating.
