In roughly six months time, Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services should receive its Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating. The department, which obtained its current 5/9 rating in the late ’90s, was evaluated in December.

“Our optimism is that we’d like to go up to a 4 rating, but if we held a 5/9, it would still be an improvement because we are rated as a department now,” said Fire Chief Tim Prather.

In years past, Prather said ISO would rate the county in districts, with any area inside unincorporated Cherokee County having a hefty water supply, such as Holly Springs, Nelson, Waleska and Ball Ground receiving a 5 rating, while areas that did not have water earning a 9 rating.

After the recent evaluation, however, the department will be looked at as a whole, despite some areas being off the main water system.

(LEFT: In 2009, Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services held a ceremonial “wet down” of a new ladder truck that is housed at Station 24 near Old Ga. 5 and Sixes Road. Equipment, which includes this Pierce Arrow XT 105 Foot Heavy Duty Ladder, is one of the components Insurance Service Office looks at when determining the county’s ISO rating. Photo by Tim Cavender | Special)

ISO ratings are beneficial for not only area fire departments, but also for the citizens in the service area, as a low rating could offset the cost a person pays for insurance.

The difference from just a 5 and 4 rating could be hundreds of dollars in savings.

“The (ISO) reviewer seemed pleased with what he found in Cherokee County,” Prather said. “He was surprised many times with what we provided and was impressed since the last one.”

Prather said the evaluator arrived about two weeks before Christmas and using a scale of 1 to 10, with one being the best and 10 being the worst, rated the department based on three components — 911, water and the fire department as a whole.

Because Cherokee E-911 dispatches for county, Woodstock and Canton fire departments, Prather said the department typically scores well in this area.

Another 40 percent of the evaluation focuses on the water supply.

“They come in and review water, which plays one of the biggest roles,” he said, adding that the evaluator reviews all water sources for the county, including Cherokee County Water and Sewerage Authority, Lake Arrowhead and even the city of Canton, as some lines run into the county.

Prather said the evaluator also checks records of hydrant maintenance, which the county services twice a year.

“We do flow tests on all the hydrants and give ISO the results, but they will go out a re-check some of them just to make sure they flow correctly,” he said, noting the county has more than 6,900 hydrants.

In addition to reviewing the water, 50 percent of the evaluation looked at what Prather called the “meat and potatoes” of the department, including maintaining equipment, training, number of stations and the number of people on shift, to name a few.

Prather said Fire-ES has a total staff of 270, with 245 “in the field running calls, saving lives and fighting fires.” The county has 23 stations serving a population of more than 167,000.

While Fire-ES won’t have the results of the ISO evaluation until this summer, Prather said he is hopeful to at least maintain the department’s current rating.

“They will make suggestions as they get close to making a decision. If we are close to being a 4, they will give recommendations and review the department again,” he added.

In future years, Prather said he is confident in lowering the rate as the result of one piece of property the county purchased in Holly Springs, a location that soon will house the new training facility.

“The training facility will have a huge impact, but ISO won’t give us credit until it is complete,” he said. “If the results don’t turn out to be as optimistic as we hoped (this year), then we can fall back on the training complex.”

Woodstock Fire and Rescue was evaluated this past summer and given a 3 rating, a level the city has maintained since 1993 despite the city increasing its population from 5,000 residents to more than 23,000 in 18 years.

The Canton Fire Department, which has not been evaluated in more than a decade, currently holds a 4 rating, however, Fire Chief Dean Floyd has said he believes the department’s rating could worsen due to the change in the way ISO rates departments, such as eliminating road mileage (up to five miles) and going with a response time base.

Canton Fire Department has performed a “needs analysis” and determined that at least two additional stations were needed in the city.

The city currently has two stations, providing coverage to its 22,724 residents.