North Strabane fire insurance classification improves
North Strabane fire Chief Mark Grimm and Brian Spicer, chairman of the township board of supervisors, review the ISO report.
The North Strabane Township Fire Department equipped this squad truck to make it an advanced life support vehicle.
North Strabane Township property owners should be looking for their insurance companies to reduce their rates after the independent Insurance Services Office improved the fire department’s rating, effective June 1.
Fire Chief Mark Grimm said the rate went from 5/9 to a 3/3X. The improved rating comes after an ISO Public Participation Classification survey analyzed the department’s fire suppression delivery system. Grimm said the survey is done every four years and looks at factors like response time, training, the 911 center and the water system in the township.
Only North Strabane and Midway have a 3 rating in Washington County, Grimm said. The fire department missed a 2/2X rating by just four points. Of the more than 2,600 fire departments across the state, there are 116 with a 3 rating, according to state fire Commissioner Tim Solobay.
Grimm said said there are only three departments in Pennsylvania with a 1 rating – Mt. Lebanon, Pittsburgh and DuBois in Clearfield County.
Brian Spicer, chairman of the township board of supervisors, has been a member of the fire department for 35 years. While he is still active in the administrative part of the department, he has stepped away from fighting fires, preferring to allow the younger members to tackle that job.
“I remember when we were striving to get down to a 5 rating,” Spicer said. “To get it down to a 3 is very prestigious.”
The reduction in rating should reduce premium homeowners in the affected areas by two to four percent. The ISO rating does not include the area covered by the department’s Station No. 2 on Thomas-Eighty Four Road, which is in a more rural area of the township. The department’s main station is on Route 19 (Washington Road) with a station on Johnson Road across from The Meadows Casino that was opened in fall 2012.
“Opening the new station allowed us to improve response times to calls on Racetrack Road as well as to the Meadowbrook plan,” Grimm said.
Both the main station and the one near the casino are staffed around-the-clock by the 10 full-time and six part-time firefighters. Grimm said six work daylight hours, with four at the main station and two at the casino. Two or three firefighters are on duty at nights and on weekends.
The chief said about three-quarters of the township, which covers 27 square miles, has water lines servicing fire hydrants. He expects that to increase in the next decade through increased development.
As the department looks ahead to meeting the public safety needs in the township, Grimm said it recently completed a five-year strategic plan that looked at the department’s strengths and weaknesses. Career and volunteer firefighters, residents, elected township officials and municipal leaders had input into developing the plan that will be was used to set priorities and resources in response to a changing environment and needs in the community.
One of the recommendations was to have an advanced life support unit to support the local ambulance services. The township also has two basic life support units.
“We often get to the scene of an emergency call quicker than the ambulance,” Grimm said. “It helps them out and the faster someone gets their hands on a resident who needs medical help, the better.”
The plan also calls for looking at ways to attract new volunteer firefighters as well as keep the 25 active firefighters now on the roster.
“The career staff relies heavily on the volunteers,” Grimm said. “We are looking at something, whether is paid per call or signing up to work shifts to get a stipend at the end of the year.”