City improves ISO rating by one point

Improvements within the volunteer fire department and the City of Sundance’s efforts to loop its water system to provide fire flow have led to an upgrade in the city’s ISO rating, said Fire Chief Chris Tomford last week. Sundance has increased its rating from a seven to a six following the results of a recent evaluation.

An ISO rating is created by the Insurance Services Office and applies to fire departments and their surrounding communities. The rating can affect insurance rates within that community, so the aim is to secure the lowest number possible (with “one” being a perfect score).

“We improved by one point,” Tomford told the Sundance City Council. “There are ways we can improve some more”.

A couple of these improvements are already underway, he continued, though others will unfortunately cost money. For example, yearly host tests would help to improve the rating further, but the department has been performing them biannually for the sake of the $650 per truck plus travel time that such a test requires.

Council Member Callie Hilty suggested that hydrant and flow testing would be a way to improve the rating while also benefiting the city itself, by helping city engineers Trihydro calibrate the water model. “That seems like something we could justify spending some money on,” she said.

“I definitely agree,” agreed Karla Greaser of Trihydro.

Tomford was asked to look into doing hydrant testing, which was a responsibility for the fire department many years ago. Greaser stated that Trihydro would be willing to assist in providing guidance for performing such tests, while Public Works Director Mac Erickson noted that it would also help to make sure the city knows exactly where all its hydrants are, particularly the ones that are tucked out of the way.

“It probably would be worth an on-the-ground review,” agreed Greaser, adding that Trihydro has a starting point for this with a gps map of all hydrant locations.

Tomford also informed the council that he will resume performing inspections on commercial buildings. This has not been done since he has served as fire chief, he said, but an old city ordinance delegates the responsibility to him, so he has been working to set up a program.

“It’s something that really needs to be done,” he said, telling the council that the inspections are for fire prevention and will also assist in improving the city’s ISO rating.