The fire-protection services of the City of West Columbia, as rated by Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), has improved to Class 1 from a Class 3, Fire Chief Chris Smith announced at the July City Council Meeting, Tuesday.

By classifying communities’ ability to suppress fires, ISO helps the communities evaluate their public fire-protection services.

It’s a rare distinction. West Columbia is the only Class 1 designation in Lexington County. There are only 28 in the state, and 348 in the nation.

The program provides an objective, countrywide standard that helps fire departments in planning and budgeting for facilities, equipment, and training. By securing lower fire insurance premiums for communities with better public protection, the PPC program provides incentives and rewards for communities that choose to improve their firefighting services.

Mayor Bobby Horton said, “We are pleased to be able to announce the improvement in our ISO ratings. The improvement in the rating is due to the increase in the quality and efficiency of our fire department which saves residents on their insurance premiums.”

The classification by Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), known as the Public Protection Classification (PPC) program, assesses the fire-protection efforts in a particular community. ISO collects information on municipal fire-protection efforts in communities throughout the United States. ISO analyzes the relevant data using its Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS).

The company then assigns a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents superior property fire protection and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program doesn’t meet ISO’s minimum criteria.

ISO is a leading source of information, products, and services about property and liability risk. ISO provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting, claims, and related information and analyses to insurers, reinsurers, agents, insurance regulators, and other government agencies. For more information, visit the ISO mitigation website at www.isomitigation.com.