ISO awards Orland Fire District with highest safety rating

New elevated ranking will help reduce insurance costs for district residents

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) has raised the rating for the Orland Fire Protection District from Class 2 to Class 1, the highest evaluation rating which assesses the response effectiveness of fire departments around the country.

The Orland Fire Protection District now joins an exclusive group of fire departments and districts that have achieved this important rating recognition.

Only 14 of Illinois 2,162 fire organizations and 270 of the nation’s 47,000 fire organizations have received the ISO Class 1 Public Protection Classification rating.

From left: Lt. David Piper, Fire Chief Michael Schofield, former Fire Chief Robert Buhs and Lt. Randy Reeder. Photo courtesy of the Orland Fire Protection District

Orland Fire Chief Michael Schofield said the district first achieved a Class 2 rating 25 years ago under former Fire Chief Robert Buhs who served from 1988 until 2002, noting the higher rating reflects the district’s constant efforts to provide the highest quality and fastest emergency response to the public.

“It has always been our goal to reach ISO Class 1, and I am so proud because it is the highest grade you can get for a Fire District,” Schofield said Tuesday after being notified of the new higher rating.

Schofield said the new higher rating will take effect on Dec. 1, 2017. He praised Buhs who attended the announcement.

“It was always our goal to reach Class 1 when I was Fire Chief and I am so proud the district has achieved it,” Buhs said.

“Receiving a Class 1 distinction is a declaration that the Orland Fire Protection District is providing the highest and best emergency services possible to its residents and to the district’s community.”

Lt. David Piper and Lt. Randy Reeder, who supervised and coordinated the district’s efforts with the ISO, said,” This is a tribute to everyone who works here and to the leadership of the Fire District. We continue to strive to always make this district better.”

In general, the cost of insurance is lower for Fire departments or districts that have higher ISO Class designations than those communities with lower Class designations. Most of the nation’s top insurers use the ISO Public Protection Classification in determining insurance premium costs.

The ISO Public Protection Classification results from an intense evaluation of a district’s emergency response as well as other important factors that include location of fire houses, water pressure, ambulance response time, equipment, dispatch efficiency, and personnel and training.

“It’s no secret that the Orland Fire Protection District is the best in Illinois and clearly one of the best in the country,” Schofield said.

“In addition to having a positive impact in reducing insurance costs for the public, this highest ISO Class 1 Public Protection Classification also means that this Fire Department provides the best possible emergency response to its residents.”

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist, author and former Chicago City Hall reporter (1976-1992).

He is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club Lisagor Awards, the 2009 Sigma Delta Chi Award for journalism, and was named Best Ethnic American Columnist by the New America Media in 2007.

His personal web page is The Daily Hookah at www.TheDailyHookah.com (and www.RayHanania.com).

Hanania writes a weekly syndicated column for the Arab News in Saudi Arabia and is the managing editor of the American Arab online news website, www.TheArabDailyNews.com.

His mainstream columns are published in Chicago's Southwest Side and Suburbs in The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, the Southwest News-Herald and the Des Plaines Valley News.

Hanania is the managing editor of Suburban Chicagoland Online News website www.SuburbanChicagoland.com.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com