DUBOIS – At Monday night’s regular meeting, the DuBois City Council reviewed the yearly statistics for the DuBois Volunteer Fire Department and learned it’s achieved a high status again nationally.
Chief John Kelsey announced that the fire department has undergone the Insurance Services Organization (ISO) inspection and again achieved the ISO 1 rating. He said it had first achieved this rating in 1998 under City Manager John “Herm” Suplizio’s tenure as fire chief.
“The guys put in a lot of work, especially the company captains,” said Kelsey. He said the ISO ratings are based upon a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the highest.
He said DuBois is one of only two volunteer fire departments in the country to qualify for the highest score. He said the score is given after a review process, which is performed every two to three years. He said it’s not only based on the fire department, but also the local 911 Call Center and the department’s impact on residents.
Kelsey said the ISO rating affects insurance costs within a fire department’s region. “For a business, it is 10 percent,” said Council member Edward Walsh.
Kelsey also presented the yearly statistical review for the fire department. He said the department received 325 total calls in 2012. He said these calls ranged from structure fire calls (21 total) to medical assistance calls (10 total) to other (23 total).
For 2012, he said the department has estimated a loss of buildings and contents in the amount of $318,550. He said this figure is limited to only losses reported to insurance.
On average weekly, Kelsey said Tuesday seemed to be the busiest day. He said the 11th day of the month also seemed to be a specific busy day.
Kelsey also announced the new fire chiefs for the next six-year term. He said that John Emerick is the new fire chief, while Bill Boyle is the first assistant fire chief. He said that Ben Blakely is the second assistant fire chief.