Rossville firefighters Bo Peardon, Keith Broom, Courtland Miller, Matt Sipsy and Captain Jerry Holder, from left, work together to remove a door from a vehicle to practice extrication work.The Rossville Fire Department is celebrating a better ISO rating, which went from a 4 to a 3.
"Typically, the lower your fire rating is, the cheaper the premiums are for fire insurance," said Rossville Public Safety Director Sid Adams. "The residents realize cost savings on insurance premiums. This is our first time to move to an ISO 3 rating."
He said trucks being upgraded and lots of training helped secure the lower rating, which also takes into account the number of fire stations and size of the coverage area, number of hydrants and water flow to those hydrants.
While he said the city of Rossville just has one fire station, which is on McFarland Avenue, "One big thing is how many fire hydrants you have in the city and the flow [to them]. We have more than an adequate number of fire hydrants for our geographical area. Tennessee American Water does a good job with the fire hydrants."
Adams said fire hose testing is an annual requirement with hydrants. Fire trucks are also inspected to make sure they have the right amount of equipment.
The city has four fire trucks: one ladder truck and three engine trucks, according to Adams.
"The new trucks helped with the ISO rating," he said. "The trucks were purchased through SPLOST [Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax]."
Adams oversees both the city's fire and police departments, primarily working with budget and personnel issues.
"We have four full-time firefighters, three part-time firefighters and eight or nine volunteer firefighters," he said. "Our firefighters train nine months out of the year every Tuesday night. We have 10 full-time sworn police officers."
The fire department - as well as the community - also receives assistance from the Rossville Volunteer Fireman's Club.
"The department has an annual car show every year and a fall carnival," said Adams. "We will have a car show this summer to raise funds for the Fireman's Club. They buy school supplies for local schools," raise money for other local organizations and support the department.