Survey Finds Fire Depts' Resources Taxed

Survey Finds Fire Depts' Resources Taxed

NU Online News Service, Oct. 2, 11:11 a.m. EDT?Nearly three-quarters of U.S. fire chiefs say their departments' capacities cannot keep abreast of the building booms in their areas, according to a survey.

The chiefs said soaring residential and commercial development is locating buildings far from firehouses and straining water resources--hurting their departments' ability to protect their communities. More than 80 percent said they expect the problem to get worse in the next three years.

The survey, commissioned by Insurance Services Office in Jersey City, N.J., and conducted by Princeton, N.J.-based Opinion Research Corp. International last July, is based on responses from 500 fire chiefs, fire marshals and commissioners representing various fire-protection jurisdictions across the United States.

The study said respondents cited two main factors in explaining why many fire chiefs feel their resources will be strained even further in coming years.

In the survey, 77 percent of the respondents said one main concern is that they expect most future growth in their communities to occur in places where water mains, hydrants and hauled-water services need to be improved. Additionally, 51 percent of those polled predicted that more fire stations will be needed in areas where most of the growth is likely to occur.

But despite such problems, 91 percent of fire chiefs in the survey said getting necessary funding remains a significant obstacle to making improvements to fire-protection services.

Furthermore, respondents also cited a number of other serious obstacles to improving service. Nearly 80 percent described recruiting and retaining firefighters--whether career/paid or volunteer--as difficult, while 46 percent said there is a lack of cooperation from local water companies, and 69 percent expressed difficulty in accessing adequate water supplies.

Opinion Research Corp. also found that some 64 percent of the fire chiefs surveyed consider their ISO Public Protection Classification (PPC) when making decisions regarding their communities' fire protection. And some 76 percent of those surveyed plan to use the PPC program in the next three years for planning, budgeting for or justifying improvements.

ISO noted that insurers representing more than 97 percent of the U.S. personal and commercial property marketplace use and support PPC to price, underwrite and market homeowners and commercial property policies. ISO develops PPC for the fire-suppression abilities of more than 45,000 fire jurisdictions around the country, by evaluating fire departments, water supplies and alarm dispatch systems.

ISO noted that fire-mitigation capabilities of communities correlate highly with insured losses and that better classifications generally result in lower insurance premiums for property owners in better-protected areas.