ISO 2 Rating

The Paducah Fire Department is rated by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) as an ISO-Class 2.  In order to maintain our high rating, the Paducah Fire Department constantly strives to improve its fire protection services.

ISO is an organization that collects information on fire-protection efforts in communities throughout the United States.  ISO’s Public Protection Classification Service rates the fire protection capability of the local fire department to respond to structure fires.  After analyzing the data for a community, ISO assigns the community a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10.  Class 1 represents the best public protection, and Class 10 indicates that an area’s fire suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria.

By classifying a community’s ability to suppress fires, ISO helps that community evaluate its public fire-protection services and in turn helps secure lower insurance premiums for a community with better public protection.  Virtually all U.S. insurers of homes and business property use ISO's Public Protection Classifications in calculating premiums. In general, the price of fire insurance in a community with a better rating is substantially lower than in a community with a poor rating, assuming all other factors are equal.