Our Fire Department is proving to be the best of the best once again, after earning an ISO Class One Rating once again. Fire Chief Shane Edwards made the announcement on Wednesday, October 16, alongside his command staff and County leaders. You can watch the full announcement here.
“We are one of 60 plus departments throughout the United States that are able to hold this,” said Chief Edwards. “Macon-Bibb County was 6th in the United States to obtain that rating back in 1984.”
The Fire Department was also the first in the state of Georgia to earn this classification and is currently the only in Middle Georgia. That means lower insurance rates for homeowners and the ability to attract new businesses and industries.
“This Class One rating lowers the cost of doing business in Macon-Bibb County. It is one more reason why Macon makes sense,” said Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority Chairman Robby Fountain said. “It is one more reason why our job is made easier, because of the work by the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department. It is one more reason why we have seen over $2 billion invested in our community.”
The Public Protection Classification (PPC) program collects information on municipal fire-protection efforts in communities throughout the United States. In each of those communities, the Insurance Services Office (ISO) analyzes the relevant data using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). The ISO assigns a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program doesn’t meet its minimum criteria.
Major factors in the audit were emergency communication dispatch center, community risk reduction, and water supply.
“We make up 40% of the Fire Department’s scores,” said Macon Water Authority (MWA) Executive Director Ron Shipman. “How we do that, is it’s simply based on the adequacy of water supply. So, when the Chief needs it in an emergency, we’ve got to make sure that it is there and ready to be delivered.”
In 2023, 39,000 communities were evaluated, Macon-Bibb County was one of less than 500 given the Class One rating.
“The men and women we have working in this Fire Department is what makes this a Class One. It takes a special person to be able to walk into a burning building,” said County Manager Dr. Keith Moffett. “Another investment in this community of people that love working in this community. We just can’t thank them enough.”
“It’s not just about a one-time audit. We continue to meet this benchmarks and goals throughout the year continuously. This isn’t a one-time thing,” said Chief Edwards. “This isn’t something that could be done alone. It was a team effort.”