Warner Robins fire risk rating drops for first time in many years

For the first time many years the fire risk rating for Warner Robins has dropped.

Mayor Randy Toms announced Wednesday that the city’s Insurance Services Office rating, or ISO, has gone from 3 to 2.

“It’s the result of many years of hard work and dedication and intense planning to make this happen,” Toms said. “It could have a significant impact on our community. It indicates our community is safer but it also could have some financial impact on our citizens.”

It may not necessarily mean a drop in insurance premiums for homeowners or businesses, however.

Steve Manders, director of insurance product review for the Georgia Office of Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner, said ISO ratings are used by some but not all insurance companies to determine rates. He also said most of the companies that use it put the rating of 1-4 in the same risk category, so even those companies may not show a reduction with the lower rating for Warner Robins.

But he said a 2 rating is a good sign for the citizens.

“You are going to be safer in your home with a 2 than with a 3,” he said.

Fire Chief Ross Moulton said the new rating goes into effect Feb. 1 and will be good for four years.

Moulton cited two reasons for the lower rating. One was the construction of a new fire station on Ga. 96. The other is a change in how rating is calculated. Moulton said the city has long had an aggressive fire prevention program, but that was not previously factored into determining the rating. In the latest review fire prevention efforts were taken into account.

Moulton said among the prevention initiatives of the department are education of children in schools and annual inspection of every business in the city, which he said is approximately 5,000 businesses.

“The Warner Robins Fire Department has always focused on ways to prevent fires from happening,” said Toms, who served in the department for 27 years. “That was something even when we weren’t getting credit for it, we focused on as a way to keep our citizens safe.”

Glenn Allen, communications director for the insurance commissioners office, said only 21 cities or counties in the state have a 1 ISO rating. In Middle Georgia, only Macon-Bibb County has a 1, as well as an area in Jones County served by the department. He said the highest rating is 9, which is usually the most rural fire departments.

Moulton said he wasn’t able to find the last time the rate dropped, but he believed it was around 1990 that it went from 4 to 3 and has remained there since then.

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Warner Robins fire risk rating drops for first time in many years."