INDUSTRY EXPERTS SPEAK OUT
ISO participated in the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Fire Rescue International (FRI) in Atlanta, Georgia, the week of August 23, 2011. In addition to hosting a well-attended ISO booth, Butch Cobb, ISO's national director of community hazard mitigation, and manager Skip Gibson presented two educational programs.
ISO Community Mitigation Director Butch Cobb and ISO Community Mitigation Manager Skip Gibson sign a 9/11 memorial wall at FRI.
The first program focused on the revision of ISO’s Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), an industry-accepted guide to measuring community fire suppression capabilities. Improved levels of fire protection result in reduced losses and lower fire insurance premiums. ISO has vetted the revisions proposed for the next major release of the FSRS through key stakeholder organizations, and we’ve conducted beta testing to ensure reliability and consistent application. Revisions are in areas including firefighter safety, training, computer-aided dispatch, standard operating procedures, deployment analysis, automatic aid, community risk reduction, and sprinkler systems. Attendees learned how the revisions could affect their individual jurisdictions, ways to improve their Public Protection Classification (PPC®) rating, and the status and timetable for filing the proposed revisions in each state.
The second program described the tools and resources ISO provides to the fire service and communities. Attendees learned about the PPC program, the FSRS, and Fire Chiefs OnlineSM — a website for registered fire chiefs, with information and features that can help improve a community’s PPC.
ISO also congratulates IAFC outgoing president and chairman of the board Chief Jack Parow for an excellent year of service. We wish incoming president and chairman of the board Chief Al Gillespie all the best for a successful term.