Fire chief: Problems addressed

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, May 1, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

Nearly four months after the Las Vegas Fire Department learned its coveted insurance rating could be downgraded, the department has addressed almost all of the relevant deficiencies, Fire Chief David Washington said.

In January the Insurance Services Office notified the department that it was in jeopardy of being dropped to a Class 2 rating because it had not adequately met the demands for growth.

The national insurance group gave the department one year to make changes in order to keep its insurance rating. But rather than take an entire year, the department has already addressed most of the issues, Washington said.

"We wanted to be aggressive in our approach in dealing with this a lot quicker than we had to to assure the public that we were on task," Washington said.

Pleased with the city's progress, ISO officials will take no immediate action and plan to check on the department's progress in six months. If the changes have been made, no reclassification action will be taken.

Dave Dasgupta, ISO manager of media relations, said the office is encouraged by departments that take immediate action to address deficiencies.

"Some departments are more conscientious than others and they really want to maintain their protection level," Dasgupta said. "Some may take their time or not move as quickly as possible.

Any downgrade of the department's top rating could have a potential effect on insurance premiums across the city. The ISO survey is paid for by insurance companies that use the rating to determine residential and commercial insurance rates.

"Just like you would like to see a good school system or police department, you also would like to have adequate protection for fire losses," Dasgupta said. "This isn't just a drill for community officials, it also had broader ramifications for residents and businesses in a community."

The city boasts its Class 1 rating on fire trucks and other equipment. The Clark County Fire Department also has a Class 1 rating. Of 45,000 surveyed fire departments nationwide, only 39 others have gained the top rating. The ISO rates departments on a scale of 1 to 10.

But the ISO's last survey stated that the city fire department hadn't properly distributed fire engines and ladder trucks to meet the demands of growth. The city also had problems with its dispatch system, according to the survey.

Washington said the department has purchased a new communications system that allows dispatchers to receive audible warnings if contact is lost with firefighters. A separate strobe light was installed to notify dispatchers if the diesel backup power generator turns on, he added.

Had it not been for the voter-approved fire safety initiative of 2000, the department would not have been able to address the needs for adequate fire engines and ladder truck placement to match growth, Washington said.

It's almost unheard of for the city's fire department to break ground on more than one fire station per year, but this year the department broke ground on three, which will open next year. Another station is planned in Summerlin.

The council has also given approval for the department to purchase two new engine companies.

Fire officials are hoping the initiative will help the department meet the national goal of one firefighter per 1,000 residents. The department currently averages .91 firefighters per 1,000 residents.

With funding from the initiative, the department plans to hire 100 firefighters in the next year. The city normally recruits every two years, graduating 20 people from the fire academy per year.

"We've never hired this many people in this amount of time," Deputy Fire Chief Rick Gracia said.

Gracia said the fire safety initiative will allow the department keep up with growth and keep its top insurance rating.

"We will be in good shape," he said. "We won't be perfect, but close enough to provide very good service to our community."