By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — The inspection rating for the Trussville Fire Department has improved, Trussville City Councilman Brian Plant said earlier this week.
The department’s Insurance Services Office rating improved from a 4 to a 3. ISO collects information on a community’s public fire protection and analyzes the data using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule, then assigns a public protection classification from 1 to 10. The lower the number, the better the rating.
Ratings gauge the fire protection capability of the local fire department to respond to structure fires in a property in which a company has a financial stake, according to www.iso.com. By classifying a community’s ability to suppress fires, ISO provides crucial information for understanding the entire landscape of risk associated with a specific property.
The last time the Trussville Fire Department was rated was 1999, and its rating was a 4, Plant said.
“It’s a very big deal,” he said.
Plant said less than 3 percent of about 50,000 communities have a rating between 1 and 3.
“Trussville joins a very select group of communities,” Plant said.
Trussville Fire Chief Russell Ledbetter was recognized for the rating at last week’s Trussville City Council meeting.
“It’s a team effort,” Ledbetter said.
Trussville currently has three fire stations: Station 1 on Main Street behind Trussville City Hall, Station 2 on Roper Road and Station 3 on U.S. Highway 11 near Mary Munger Road. The Trussville Fire & Rescue administrative offices are located in the former Hewitt Elementary School on Cherokee Drive. A fourth fire station is in future plans to be located at the corner of Trussville-Clay Road and Service Road.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.