PICKENS — The Insurance Services Office (ISO) recently announced that Pickens Fire Department improved in its overall rating from a Class 4 department to a Class 3.

The classification by ISO, known as the Public Protection Classification (PPC™) program, assesses the fire-protection efforts in more than 47,500 communities in the United States. By classifying communities’ ability to suppress fires, ISO helps the communities evaluate their public fire-protection services. Class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program doesn’t meet ISO’s minimum criteria

“We have worked extremely hard this year to improve our ISO rating,” said Chris Elrod, fire chief for Pickens Fire Department. “It is not only good for the department, but our constituents benefit from the better rating as well as homeowners and business owners insurance premiums factor in their fire department’s ISO rating. The higher the rating, the higher the insurance premiums. The lower the rating, the lower those premiums go.”

When rating a fire department, ISO analyzes the relevant data on three major components of fire suppression: fire department, emergency communications, and water supply. In addition, ISO recognizes community efforts to reduce losses through fire prevention, public fire safety education, and fire investigation.

For more information on Pickens Fire Department, contact (864) 878-2610 or visit www.cityofpickens.com/fire.