The Farmington Hills Fire Department recently earned a Class 2 rating from the Insurance Services Office, joining just six other fire departments in the state of Michigan to receive this high ranking. This score also positions Farmington Hills among the top 2 percent of all fire departments nationwide.

Notification was received in August 2017 that ISO inspectors would arrive in November to examine the fire department’s fire trucks, equipment, water delivery, training records, fire reports, communications center, fire prevention and community involvement initiatives. Inspectors spent a full day on-site examining records and touring the department. In early June, Farmington Hills City Manager Dave Boyer and Fire Chief Jon Unruh were notified by ISO of the prestigious Class 2 rating.

ISO scrutinizes the data collected and assigns a Public Protection Classification. A Class 1 represents a department that delivers superior fire protection and concurrently a Class 10 designation represents a fire protection program that doesn’t meet ISO’s minimum criteria. Farmington Hills was previously a Class 4 going into the current evaluation.

“Fire department staff worked tirelessly during the 90 days leading up to the ISO independent audit, assembling hundreds of pages of documentation required for analysis,” Unruh said. “This improved score directly reflects the support that the department receives from city leadership, citizens and, most importantly, the exceptional level of service provided by our highly trained and dedicated personnel.

“We are just three percentage points away from a Class 1 designation and we will be looking at ways to improve our score in the coming months,” he added. Currently, there are no Class 1 Fire Departments in the state of Michigan.

Many insurance companies use ISO classifications when calculating insurance premiums. Residents and businesses in Farmington Hills are encouraged to contact their insurance carriers to inquire if the new ISO classification will reduce their insurance premiums. The new classification goes into effect Sept. 1.