Hometown Newspaper of Valley Center, Pauma Valley, Pala, Palomar Mountain & North Escondido since 1974

By David Ross | on September 08, 2022

The Valley Center Fire Protection District last week received a letter from the Insurance Services Office (ISO) that its ISO rating will increase from 3/3X to 2/2X as of December 1, which is an improvement, as the lower the number, the better. 

According to ISO: “ISO’s Public Protection Classification Program (PPC) plays an important role in the underwriting process at insurance companies. In fact, most U.S. insurers – including the largest ones – use PPC information as part of their decision- making when deciding what business to write, coverage’s to offer or prices to charge for personal or commercial property insurance.”

VCFPD Chief Joe Napier commented, “VCFPD is excited to announce that we have received the results of the Insurance Services Office five year evaluation and our ISO classification has changed from class 3 3X to a Class 2 2X. This a direct reflection of the continuous hard work and dedication to improvement that the district has established as a core value.”

It is also part of a continuous line of improvement the district has accomplished over the years. As the Chief described it, “

“As an example, after our ISO evaluation in 2012, we were classified as a 5/5X. In 2017, we improved to a 3 3X and now in 2022 we improved to a 2/2X. ISO evaluates a fire department’s ability to prevent fire, but when  a fire occurs for any reason, ISO places a classification on the ability to prevent widespread conflagration in the community.”

Napier added,  “The measuring tool that ISO uses to evaluate the fire department starts with the department’s deployment of apparatus and personnel to any fire. And its ability to contain that fire to the point of origin or the object of origin (a car, a house, a room, a commercial business). The second part of the evaluation is a continuous water supply that is delivered by our water district through a reliable network and capacity. The next evaluation is communication and technology. The VCFPD is dispatched by the North County Dispatch JPA which has the highest level of trained personnel, the best technology and the best dispatch software available to any fire department in the country. Lastly, the fire department’s fire prevention and community risk reduction division is graded on public outreach, education, enforcing the fire code and collaborating with the building industry to produce fire safe homes and businesses.” 

The Roadrunner asked what the practical effect will be for the average home owner?

“The ISO classification is used by the insurance industry to evaluate a community’s insurability against fire, whatever the cause,” said Napier. “It is our hope that the insurance industry will look at this improvement in the district’s ISO classification so that insurance brokers will have the ability to bring more product to the insurance market at lower prices.”

According to the ISO letter to the fire district: “Each insurance company independently determines the premiums it charges its policyholders. The way an insurer uses ISO’s information on public fire protection may depend on several things – the company’s fire-loss experience, ratemaking methodology, underwriting guidelines, and its marketing strategy.”

With the new fire station scheduled to open next year some time, The Roadrunner asked if the district will have to wait another five years for that to affect the ISO rating. “No,” said Napier. “When the 3rd fire station goes into service, the commercial businesses and residents that reside within the five mile driving distance from that fire station or from any Valley Center district fire station will enjoy the class II insurance rates and product availability.”

The fire chief has been contacted by many people in the Valley who are losing or have lost their home owners insurance due to the effects of the wildfires of the last two decades. The chief and 5th District Supervisor Jim Desmond’s office are trying to do something about this situation. Napier told the paper, “We had a meeting with Desmond’s team and we made contact with California State Insurance Commissioner to look at ways that the fire district and Supervisor’s Desmond’s district 5 can improve the availability of insurance in the private market at lower rates. This starts with the fire district’s ISO classification and its ability to respond to fires within the community whatever the cause,” he said.

“The Class 2 designation right now is based on our current deployment with two stations and our ISO rated automatic aid partners, which include all of the tribal fire agencies, the city of Escondido, Deer Springs Fire Protection District and North County Fire Protection District,”  said Napier. “Adding the 3rd fire station will get us additional points on our next evaluation to be closer to a Class 1 fire department. Which is the highest ISO rating—but it will take much more than adding a fire station to get us to that Class 1 designation.” He added, “We’re saying we got Class 2 and it’s based on all the things we’ve added in the last five years as a strategic goal to get us to our next ISO classification. This is, again, a direct reflection of the district’s core value of continuous improvement to serve the citizens who live, work and play in Valley Center.” 

Points are given for location of stations and types of apparatuses operated out of them. “The large fire apparatus, referred to Type 1, also get some points from tribal agencies that have such engines.” That’s the “big red” fire engines that most people associate with fire department. It gets points for “its ability to pump a significant amount of water from a reliable water system with highly trained firefighters fighting the fire.” VCFPD has two Type 1 engines and one Type 6. “We also get points for reserve fire apparatus, which are Type 1 that we can upstaff to protect the community during Red Flag conditions. Like Monday,” said Napier.

The chief concluded, “When your readers look at a deployment of firefighters they are looking at a fire station that has at least three firefighters in the station on a Type 1 fire apparatus, responding to any incident which is an all-risk response deployment. Although the classification does not include our paramedic level services or our wildland fire capability. It takes into consideration a wild fire igniting homes and businesses and our ability to prevent and protect that.”

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