OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Fire Department attained the highest Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating, one held by only 1.5 percent of departments nationwide, showing the city and OCFD’s commitment to top-tier fire protection and providing property owners with potential discounts on their property insurance.
In a small ceremony outside the OCFD headquarters Monday evening, ISO field representative Jeff Gordon presented a certificate showing the Class 1 ISO rating to Mayor Jay Gillian, Fire Chief Jim Smith, Deputy Chief Bernie Walker and members of the department.
“It is a symbol of excellence recognized by fire departments throughout the country,” Walker said. “The class 1 rating is the highest rating achievable and signifies the Ocean City Fire Department provides exemplary fire protection. This prestigious classification is held by less than 1.5 percent of fire departments nationwide and 0.4 percent of fire departments in New Jersey. The OCFD will now join only two other fire departments in New Jersey and approximately 500 fire departments nationwide who have achieved the ISO Class 1 rating.”
Walker said the achievement “is a culmination of multiple years of hard work, a tribute to the dedication of the professionalism of Ocean City Fire Department members as well as a testament to the emphasis the city of Ocean City puts on public safety.”
Earning the rating, Fire Chief Jim Smith said, “is a major milestone for our department.”
“To achieve this rating, it required a similar recipe that it takes for success on the fire grounds. It is a team effort,” he said. “First it starts with the support from our city administration. For the last 14 years our mayor has supported our fire department and the values and efforts put forth in fire suppression and emergency medical services. The equipment, apparatus and personnel the mayor and City Council supplies us keeps our members safe and capable of performing their duty.”
Smith cited the critical importance of the “excellent hydrant and water supply system,” a fact Gordon echoed, and the importance of mutual aid from neighboring departments.
Lastly, he said “the hard work, constant training, compassion and dedication from our members is the binding agent that brings all these other ingredients together and allows us to be recognized as an ISO Class 1 rating community. If you remove any of these components, we would not have been able to achieve the Class 1 rating.”
Gordon said there are only two other fire departments in New Jersey — Jersey City and Hackensack — that have the Class 1 ISO rating and only 504 departments out of 37,893 fire jurisdictions nationwide that participate in the ISO Public Protection Classification (PPC) program.
As of June 1, Ocean City will become the 505th department in the nation to have the rating.
With all the jurisdictions in New Jersey, Gordon called it an honor for Ocean City to achieve the rating.
He pointed out that the next goal for the department is to keep the rating.
“We’re going to look that you’re keeping up with your training, you’re keeping up with your apparatus, that everything is being kept up to date and you still have the manpower,” Gordon said, noting the department can’t do better than the Class 1 rating but it can continue to work on self-improvement.
Gordon said key factors in the rating, in addition to the water system, include the manpower, training and condition of the apparatus. What helped the OCFD get the highest rating now included a manpower increase and improved training.
He said the training the OCFD undergoes exceeds the fire training, on which the rating is based, to include water training and EMS training.
“That is above and beyond,” Gordon said.
Walker thanked the administration and City Council for providing the needed manpower of 21 members per shift. The department has 67 full-time staff members and an operating budget of about $10.5 million, according to the chief.
Gordon said there are “quite a few” departments that have lost the rating so he agreed it is a rigorous process to maintain the status.
“We’re determined as a fire department to keep the status. It was definitely hard work to achieve it and it is something we want to maintain,” Walker said.
Asked about the benefit to property owners, Gordon explained the ISO rating is what insurance companies use to determine what the premiums will be for both residential and commercial properties in the city.
“By having the class 1 status, the insurance companies will offer to their customers the most lucrative discounts that are possible on the fire portion of their property insurance,” Gordon said.
He and fire officials said the exact discounts are up to the individual insurance companies.
Gillian said it was up to the city to educate residents about the rating and suggested they contact their insurance companies to learn what discounts they may provide.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
