HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton Division of Fire and Rescue has a lot to be proud of these days thanks a new rating from the Insurance Services Office.
As of April 1, Hampton’s ISO rating of “1” is officially in effect. The Class 1 rating is the highest score a fire protection community can receive.
The Insurance Services Office evaluates fire protection efforts throughout the country. They rate agencies on a scale of 1–10, with “1” being the best.
Battalion Chief Anthony Chittum says the department was last evaluated in 1986 when they received a “4” and a lot went into the improved ranking.
“It’s based on a number of factors, water supply is one of them, the water system. The equipment that you see behind us here is another part. Since 1986 technology has changed, so has communications, all of these are factors based in that,” Chittum told NewsChannel 3’s Todd Corillo.
“Our pumps for example are 1500 gallon per minute pumps. We staff our engines with 3 people, our ladder trucks with 4. Our nozzles on this particular piece of equipment are capable of 2000 gallons per minute. Our alerting system. Everything from our radio communications the 800 megahertz system we use to the alert system and the redundancy behind that all play a factor,” he added.
Monday on NewsChannel 3 at 11, Todd Corillo breaks down how other fire departments across the region rate and what it can mean for what you pay for homeowner’s insurance.
