By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
The Hays Fire Department came within two points of earning the top Insurance Services Office class rating in its most recent evaluation.
Hays Deputy Fire Chief Shane Preston said the department kept its class 2 rating but raised its score to 88 out of 100, just short of the class 1 rating.
"If you want to think of it like percentages in grade school, if you get a 90, it's an A, if you're in the 80s, you get a B. That's where we're sitting at," Preston said.
Preston credited the improved ISO rating to better training documentation, properly equipped fire trucks, a more efficient dispatch center and a slight improvement in water supply systems.
Preston said the department barely qualified for a class 2 rating in the last evaluation, conducted in the fall. He said the average ISO rating in Kansas is around a four when considering rural departments.
Preston said the higher score reflects the department’s efforts as it influences insurance rates for residents and businesses.
"The general public should be very proud of the fire department, and everything that we've done to help lower their insurance premiums in that case," Preston said.