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Effective April 1, 2003
the Houston Fire Department became an ISO Class 1 Fire Department,
which is the highest possible class. Although this in itself is an
outstanding achievement, the Houston Fire Department’s score makes it
the best-of-the-best with the score of 97.01.
This is the highest score ever by any fire department.
From the Fire Times—
According to data from
the Texas Department of Insurance, the Houston fire department saves
homeowners in excess of 401 million dollars each year due to the level
of fire protection services offered on a budget of 277 million
dollars. That is an average [savings] of $522 a year per household.
Commercial, business, rental and contents savings could be three times
that.
It has been less than a
year (December 2001), that the Insurance Services Office [ISO] raised
the Houston Fire Department's ISO Rating from a Class 3 to Class 2.
This is the latest feather in Houston Fire Department's hat to go
along with highest cardiac survivability rate in the U.S. and largest
accredited fire department in the world.
Of 2,355 fire departments
within Texas 12 are ISO Class 1. Of 55,397 fire departments nationwide
57 are Class 1. The Houston
Fire Department is fourth largest metropolitan fire department in the US, and the
largest Class 1 fire department in the World.
From the Fire Times—
The ISO also rated the unincorporated county areas
serviced by the Houston Fire Department and those areas are also being
rated a Class 1. This represents an improvement from a Class 9 and
will represent a significant savings [expected rates to drop two
thirds] in property insurance costs for commercial and residential
properties.
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