Cherokee County Becomes Class 2 Fire Department

CANTON, GA — Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services has improved its rating that scores how well it provides fire suppression services to its citizens, Fire Chief Tim Prather said at the County Commission's Sept. 4 work session.

Prather said that effective Dec. 1, the county's ISO rating will move from Class 3/3Y to 2/2Y, according to a CCFES press release. The ISO system is used to rate how well fire departments serve their area. The scale runs from one to 10, with one being the best fire service. The ratings are used by some companies to calculate homeowners' insurance costs.

Chief Prather said the agency's ISO review was conducted earlier this year. The chief told county commissioners that while he was "concerned with the anticipated results," the subsequent success can be attributed to the work of the entire department.

“It took each and every one one of us working together and doing our part to reach this accomplishment," Prather said. "This is huge and history making for Cherokee County Fire."

Since he was named fire chief in 2011, Prather noted he began working towards the goal of steadily improving the fire agency's ISO rating. During that year, the county's rating was a Class 5/9. It improved to a Class 3/3Y in 2013.

"It will be important for us to continue to keep up with the growth of this county to maintain this new PPC (public protection classification) and hopefully in the future improve another step,” Prather added.

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The ISO classification system ranks departments on a scale of Class 1 to Class 10. As readers recall, Cherokee County consolidated its services with the Canton Fire Department, and took over operations for residents served by that agency. For comparison purposes, the city of Woodstock's fire department, the only non-volunteer fire agency in the county, obtained an ISO Class 1 rating in January 2015.

The ISO review is divided into three sections: 911 center, which accounts for 10 percent of the rating; the fire department, which makes up 50 percent; and the county's water supply system, which makes up the remaining 40 percent.

The split classification of a 2/2Y for Cherokee County deals with the location of a creditable water supply source. The first number is the class that applies to properties within 5 road miles of the responding fire station and 1,000 feet of a creditable water supply, such as a fire hydrant, suction point or dry hydrant. The second number is the class that applies to properties within 5 road miles of a fire station but beyond 1,000 feet of a creditable water supply.

Cherokee County notes there are about 46,000 fire departments in the United States, and roughly 242 departments have achieved the Class 1 status and just over 1,325 departments have a Class 2 rating. Cherokee County Fire now ranks among the top 4 percent of fire departments around the country, it added.

With the change set to go into effect in a few months, Prather recommends property owners check with their insurance agents to determine if there will be any significant change with their insurance rates. Most insurance companies have their own specific process in determining rates.

However, Cherokee County notes that property owners that were being provided service by Cherokee County will see the change from a Class 3 to a Class 2. For residents formerly served by Canton, those residents will see a change from a ISO Class 4 rating to a Class 2 ranking.

Image via Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services