By Michael Pearson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alpharetta’s fire department has achieved a distinction shared by less than 1 percent of departments nationwide — a Class 2 rating from the insurance industry.
The Insurance Services Organization rates the firefighting capacity of more than 45,000 communities nationwide on operations, equipment, dispatching and water supplies.
The rankings are used by insurers to help set property insurance rates, although it’s likely commercial property owners will see more benefit from the higher rating than residential owners, Fire Chief Keith Sanders said.
Only one Georgia community — Macon — is ranked a Class 1 city, according to the ISO. Fourteen are ranked Class 2. More than 800 of the 1,147 rated Georgia departments are ranked Class 6 or lower on the 10-point scale.
“It’s a reflection of the commitment we’ve made to public safety,” said Councilman Doug DeRito, a former firefighter and the City Council’s liaison to the Public Safety Department.
Sanders said the city had been rated Class 3 in 2003 but opted to invite ISO evaluators back in 2005 after making improvements suggested by inspectors.
Those improvements included putting additional tools on fire trucks, improving water capacity and making technological changes to radio systems to make sure dispatchers can communicate with fire crews in the field, Sanders said.
The inspection did find some flaws in the city’s fire response.
It noted the city sometimes staffs fire engines with three people, as opposed to the four recommended by national fire standards.
Sanders said three-member crews are enough to handle most incidents because the city sends multiple trucks to any fire in the city and can ask surrounding jurisdictions for help in big incidents.
The inspection also said the city could benefit from stationing firefighters in the northernmost regions of the city, near North Park.
Sanders said a rescue truck crew is stationed at North Park during the day but said he does not anticipate building a full fire station in that area because response times are still within city standards of six to seven minutes.