Fire protection needs will increase with growth

By: Editorial | Opelika-Auburn News
Published: August 20, 2008

The Insurance Services Office found problems with the city of Auburn’s fire protection in 2007.

Reviews gave Auburn an ISO rating of 4, although the agency allowed the city to retain its official rating of 2 as it attempted to rectify the flagged areas (added a fire station and built a training facility).

We’ve got to give thumbs-up to city officials who recognized the suggested areas of improvement and acted upon them.

For their efforts, the ISO awarded the city a new official rating of 3, which will not increase residents’ fire insurance rates. In short: the lower your ISO rating, the lower your insurance rates are likely to be.

To decrease the ISO rating, Auburn still must add more equipment and improve its record-keeping of training.

According to the ISO, the rating (Fire Suppression Rating Schedule) “is the manual ISO uses in reviewing the firefighting capabilities of individual communities. The schedule measures the major elements of a community’s fire-suppression system and develops a numerical grading ...”

Communities pride themselves in giving residents a better “quality of life.”

Having adequate — and in this case improved — fire protection mixed with lower insurance rates certainly helps. A community is more attractive to prospective residents and industries when it has adequate fire protection, police protection and quality schools.

As Auburn continues to grow in population and develop industrially and commercially, the city has seen its share of annexations, sometimes turning the city limits into a bizarre maze of rectangles that morph in one direction, then back in another.

With growth comes the reality that homes will not always be constructed in areas near a fire station. Auburn has responded well to growth, building new fire stations on Shug Jordan Parkway and adjacent to the research park off of South College Street.

The city will continue to grow, and its level of fire protection must grow with it. The ISO will be watching.

But for now, Auburn showed its commitment to fire protection and lower ISO ratings for its citizens. There’s no signal this will change any time in the future.