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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Duluth - Fire Department
602 West Second Street • Duluth, Minnesota 55802
218-730-4400 •www.duluthmn.gov
218-730-4400 •www.duluthmn.gov
For more information contact Kelli Latuska,
Public Information Officer at 218-730-5309
Public Information Officer at 218-730-5309
DATE: 5/21/2014
SUBJECT: Insurance Services Office, Public Protection Classification Rating Change
BY: Deputy Chief Charlie Smith
NATURE OF INCIDENT: Insurance Services Office, Public Protection Classification Rating Change
CASE NO.:
INCIDENT DATE: 5/21/2014
INCIDENT TIME:
INCIDENT LOCATION:
SUBJECT: Insurance Services Office, Public Protection Classification Rating Change
BY: Deputy Chief Charlie Smith
NATURE OF INCIDENT: Insurance Services Office, Public Protection Classification Rating Change
CASE NO.:
INCIDENT DATE: 5/21/2014
INCIDENT TIME:
INCIDENT LOCATION:
The Duluth Fire Department is pleased to announce that the Insurance Services Office (ISO), Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating has recently improved for the City of Duluth.
The PPC program is important to communities and fire departments. Communities whose PPC improves may receive lower insurance rates. PPC ratings also provide fire departments with a valuable benchmark and are used by many departments as a valuable tool when planning and budgeting and is a measure of the effectiveness of a municipality’s fire suppression and prevention capabilities.
The PPC survey completed in late 2013 resulted in an improved split rating of 3/9 for the City of Duluth. This is an improvement over the old PPC rating of 4/9 obtained in 1996. Classifications are provided on a scale of 1-10. Class 1 represents an exemplary fire suppression program and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria. The overwhelming majority of the City of Duluth is now rated ISO PPC Class 3. The split rating (3/9) is obtained due to the City of Duluth possessing areas where structures are beyond 1000 feet of a fire hydrant, but within 5 miles of a recognized fire station. Those areas receive an ISO PPC rating of Class 9.
Out of 48,960 U.S. communities provided with an ISO PPC rating in 2013, only 6% earned a rating of Class 3 or higher.
Plans to improve the ISO PPC rating began in 2009 in accordance with objectives established in the Duluth Fire Department’s business plan. The community was assessed and given points in the following areas: Emergency Communications, Fire Department, Water Supply and Community Risk Reduction (a new category). The PPC rating improvement was primarily due to recognition of the Duluth Fire Department’s excellent Fire Prevention programs. Additional contributing factors to the rating improvement were increased amount of fire department training, fire department redeployment and improvements by St. Louis County Emergency Communications.
A truly collaborative effort, The Duluth Fire Department would like to thank the extremely hard work of all of its employees as well as St. Louis County's Emergency Communications and the City of Duluth Public Works and Utilities Division.
The Duluth Fire Department encourages property owners to contact their insurance companies and inform them of the ISO PPC Rating improvement for the City of Duluth, as it may affect insurance rates.
The Duluth Fire Department continually strives to improve service delivery to our wonderful community and its citizens.