The Fire-Ready World

Arsonists’ handiwork has dominated headlines across much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic over the last several months. Earlier this year, in southeast Pennsylvania, an alleged group of firebugs torched dozens of buildings in one community before authorities finally caught them. Earlier this month, in rural New Hampshire, a man was charged with nine counts of arson and ordered held on an unusually high, $200,000 bail because – as the judge put it – there was scant evidence the alleged arsonist would cease burning things down.

But public debate and discussion about fire safety should extend well beyond the made-for-Hollywood intrigue of an arsonist on the prowl. In terms of impact – and in some case, alarm – a recent survey commissioned by ISO is just as intriguing as the saga and exploits of any Backdraft-style bandit.

The survey, which was released earlier this year, contains a wealth of insight that should prove alarming to those – like insurance agents and their carriers – who, unlike arsonists, are in the business of ensuring that houses, buildings and other things remain unburned.

The survey relied on the input of 500 fire chiefs from communities of all sizes across the country. It found that the lack of infrastructure for delivering water is in some cases leading to critical delays in firefighting. Nearly one in six departments says it has no water service for firefighting in some locations, and must rely on sources other than hydrants.

The survey also points out how – despite fire departments generally being organized by individual communities – the interconnectedness of each department has grown substantially in recent years. More than half of the chiefs surveyed said they “always or almost always” call on neighboring departments to respond to an initial alarm for a structure fire.

Among those who call on their neighbors, the chiefs said the reasons can vary from lack of firefighters (74 percent said this), to the need for specialized equipment (29 percent) to the proximity of a fire to another community’s station (25 percent). Reliance on neighboring communities is important, but it’s being pushed to significant limits in many areas. For instance, one in three fire chiefs said their communities have populated areas which are closer to another district’s fire station, but 39 percent of those chiefs said the neighboring districts don’t automatically respond to fires.

Staffing is another major concern for the fire safety community. One of the main reasons that fire departments are always calling on their neighbors is they lack the number of firefighters, in many cases, to respond properly.

The survey, according to ISO, underscores the need for better evaluation of fire safety on the ground. It’s one reason the organization has launched its Public Protection Classification (PPC) program, which ranks communities’ fire-suppression programs from one to 10, one being the best.

So what does it all mean for the insurance world? Well, according ISO’s Mike Waters, it means that “it’s not enough to know there’s a fire station nearby. You also have to know if the station will respond to a possible fire and if there will be enough trained personnel, adequate equipment and sufficient water for firefighting.”

Although that fact may draw fewer headlines, in many communities across the region, these issues are even more dangerous than prowling arsonists.