Charleston Fire Receives Public Protection Classification

For Immediate Release – Charleston Fire Department News Release, April 15, 2021

Charleston Fire Receives Public Protection Classification

The Charleston Fire Department recently underwent a review from the Insurance Service Office (ISO) to determine the Charleston Fire Department’s Public Protection Classification (PPC). ISO is an independent company that serves insurance companies, communities, fire departments, insurance regulators, and others by providing information about risk. ISO’s PPC program evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria developed by the National Fire Protection Association and the American Water Works Association. A community’s PPC depends on factors including needed fire flow, emergency communications, fire department, and water supply. After analyzing the data, ISO assigns a PPC grade from 1-10. Class 1 represents an exemplary fire suppression program, and a Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria.

I am pleased to announce that the Charleston Fire Department was again assigned a PPC Class 2 rating. In 2020 there were only 388 Class 1 and 1,729 Class 2 Fire Departments nationwide out of over 39,000 reviewed by ISO.

So what does that mean to the residents and business of Charleston? A majority of insurance companies use the ISO ratings of fire departments to help determine the risk of loss by fire. Thus, a better fire department classification, the better the chance of having lower insurance premiums.

I want to thank the Charleston Fire Department firefighters for the hard work and dedication to helping make this classification possible. I would also like to thank The City of Charleston Mayor, Council Members, and City Manager for providing us with the necessary resources to achieve a PPC Class 2 rating.

Steve Bennett
Fire Chief