Insurance Service Office (ISO) Rating
The Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating of Newport News Fire Department is a three on a scale of one to ten, with one being the highest rating. This rating measures the City’s overall fire protection, including the City’s water supply, fire apparatus, staffing, response times, and building conditions. A high ISO rating helps lower fire insurance costs for commercial structures within a locality. The ISO is scheduled to Audit the City fire protection again in 2008.
To reduce response times and travel distances within districts, and improve the City’s ISO rating, fire apparatus were strategically repositioned throughout the city. Fire Station 5 was built in Lee Hall to serve Oakland Industrial Park and the residential development north of Fort Eustis. This resulted in significant reductions to response times for fire and emergency calls. Emergency Communications continues to be an issue, because more fire dispatchers are needed to reduce response times further. In addition, Newport News Waterworks must continually upgrade its water distribution system to improve water flow in certain areas of the city. The needed improvements to the water distribution system will continue to be addressed through capital improvement projects and strategic planning.