Businesses and residents within the South Madison County Fire Protection District could see a decrease in insurance costs, thanks in large part to the efforts of the fire department.
The South Madison County Fire Protection District, also known as the Gluckstadt Fire Department, has received a Class Five Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating, up from the Class Six rating it previously held.
The ISO has a system for determining the price of fire insurance in a community. The system ranks departments on a scale from one to 10, with one being the best.
An ISO score is determined once a field survey is conducted and a department is scored in four areas using the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule. Those four areas include emergency communication systems; a fire department’s personnel capabilities, training, equipment, etc; water supply; and community risk reduction.
The department’s Class Five rating took effect on May 26.
In a statement from Captain Dustin Perry, the department credited Bear Creek Water Association with helping to improve water distribution to the Gluckstadt community.
The rating change affects only those within the South Madison Fire Protection legal boundaries.
The previous field survey was conducted before the department’s newest station opened. This time, the additional station counted toward the department’s rating, as well as the number of staff members, according to Perry.
“We upgraded our number of staff, so we have three personnel on every engine,” Perry said.
So, the department has a total of nine personnel along with a shift commander.
“Sometimes we have four people on a truck at Station Three, which is our newest station,” he said. “Our biggest thing has been the increase in personnel and the new station.”
Equipment also played a role in the rating, including three front-line trucks, the oldest of which is a 2010. The other two are 2018 and 2019 models.
“So, we have great equipment that goes along with all of that,” he said. “We have also created a fire prevention bureau.”
The fire prevention bureau does fire code inspections and fire safety education for children. Perry said the department purchased a “Sparky” outfit for demonstrations for children. They have also received a grant from FireHouse Subs for a blow-up fire safety house for children as well.
“We are trying to do everything we can to reach out to the community and do what we can for Gluckstadt,” he said.
