Berthoud Fire

In 1999, Berthoud Fire Protection District designed a plan to lower insurance ratings over the next five years. The plan would change the area's ISO rating, improve scope of service and possibly save local residents hundreds of insurance dollars each year.

What is an ISO rating, and why improve this rating?

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) examines a community's commitment to public safety by gauging the professionalism of the local: fire department, communication dispatch center, and infrastructure of available water. After an ISO examination, a score is assessed that will affect insurance rates throughout the community. The score equates to the risk an insurance carrier could expect from fire losses. The higher a community scores, the higher the risk factor. The lower a community scores, the lower the risk factor. By achieving the lower the score, the community could expect to pay less for homeowners and commercial building insurance premiums.

Many insurance companies base their fire insurance premiums on the ISO rating. In fact ISO has provided data (ISOmitigation.com) that states 97% of all insurance carriers use the ISO formula. Your local fire department is the ISO rate keeper for your community. The scoring methodology used by ISO rates fire protection from Class 1 through Class 10.

A major problem that BFPD had to overcome: To earn major discounts from ISO, a lower Class Rating had to be achieved which would require certain items to be improved. In 1985, the Berthoud Fire Protection District challenged ISO test and received a Class 5 rating. But, because of two factors, the new rate would only apply to roughly 30% of the residents who reside within the 100 square mile fire district. This ineligibility was caused by two factors. These factors were:

1. 1)Fire hydrants must be located within 1000 feet from an insured structure.
2. 2)Structures must be within 5-road miles of a responding station.

To address this problem, Berthoud Fire had to develop a plan that would address station locations, equipment needs, personnel requirements, water delivery, and a cost-benefit ratio. To gain community support, residents would need to be informed of the possible insurance premium reductions that could be available. A plan was developed that covered four areas of needed improvement. Using the new plan, these items were addressed.

A request was given to residents of Berthoud, asking for approval to invest in a mill levy increase for 2001 that would give the financial backing need to support BFPD's new ISO Rate Reduction Plan. This investment would prove to play a large part in the reduction of insurance premiums in Berthoud.

• New Facility: BFPD added an additional station, which would reduce the 5-mile limitation that ISO had imposed on so many residents. This step would also cut response times in half to calls stemming from the western part of the fire district.
• Personnel Increase: BFPD increased staffing by adding career firefighters and raised the number of volunteers and intern firefighters to reduce response times. The District also developed specialized emergency teams: Dive Team and Tactical Medic Team that would function with local law enforcement.
• New Equipment: BFPD added two 750-ft ladder trucks, a tender, and a second fire
  engine, and two fire units capable of carrying 1.5 miles of hose per unit. These