City of Franklin Fire Department Receives Top Rating

The City of Franklin has received the top rating for fire protection services,earning a Class 1 Public Protection Classification from the Insurance Services Office (ISO). This makes Franklin one of only 132 cities out of 48,754 rated in the U.S. that have been awarded such classification.

News was announced at press conference on October 13 at Franklin Fire Station 6. ISO representative, Marc Alley, presented the City of Franklin officials with a packet containing the city’s new classification. Regards given at the event included Mayor Ken Moore, City Administrator Eric Stuckey and Fire Chief Rocky Garzarek.

“The ISO rating reflects the high level of service the City of Franklin strives to provide to citizens and businesses every day, stated Eric Stuckey,City Administrator. “Improving fire protection not only makes our community a safe place to live, but from a business standpoint,it helps create opportunities and supports growth due to lower property insurance costs.”

ISO review includes three separately evaluated categories which are totaled to reach the final score listed below:

1.Fire Department(50%) Focuses on items such as engine,ladder,or service companies, distribution of fire stations and fire companies,equipment carried on apparatus,pumping capacity,reserve apparatus,department staffing and training.

2.Water Supply System(40%) Assesses the water supply a community uses for fire suppression including fire hydrant size,type, and installation.

3.Fire Alarm and Communications Systems(10%) Assesses the community’s ability to handle and dispatch fire alarms.

This will be the third time that the City of Franklin’s fire protection rating has improved since Fire Chief Garzarck became fire chief in 2004. Garzarck pointed out that the ISO grade is for fire protection services only. It does not take into account the many other services the Franklin Fire Department provides, such as emergency medical services, rescue operations, and hazardous materials response.