Ankeny Fire Department Receives Top-Tier ISO Safety Rating

Press release from the City of Ankeny:

February 25, 2021

The City of Ankeny Fire Department announced today it has received an upgraded ISO Public Protection Classification, moving from a Class 3/3A fire department to a Class 2/2A fire department. The rating is determined by the Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO), and indicates how prepared a department is in the case of fire and how quickly it would be able to put it out. The higher rating qualifies Ankeny as a safer community.

The new rating will take effect July 1, 2021. ISO currently rates nearly 40,000 fire departments within the United States. As of 2020, less than 5% of those fire departments were rated Class 2 and less than 1% are rated Class 1, which is the highest rating you can achieve in the fire service.

The new Class 2 safety rating is important to Ankeny residents and business owners because they will see a reduction in their property insurance premiums if they contract with an insurance company that uses the ISO rating scale as part of their underwriting process. The reduction in insurance rates is especially important for large commercial and industrial buildings. The Class 2 rating is an economic development driver for the city.

“Our last rating change was effective January 1, 2017, when we moved up from a Class 4 to a Class 3. This represents a two-class improvement in less than five years. Our department has worked diligently to improve the rating by focusing on community risk reduction, increased and continued hydrant testing and we put a greater emphasis on building inspections. We also opened Fire Station No. 3 on NW 36th Street, which greatly improved our rating because now we have a station closer to our northside residents,” said Ankeny Fire Chief James Clack.

Fifty percent of an ISO rating is based on the fire department’s staffing, equipment, training and response times; 40% by the city’s water supply and the remainder by the city’s emergency communications system and its community outreach and safety programs. Ratings are issued on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best.

The Ankeny Fire Department has been proudly serving our community for more than 100 years. All members of the Ankeny Fire Department are trained in fire suppression, rescue and emergency medical services.

This press release was produced by the City of Ankeny. The views expressed here are the author’s own.