By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
December 12, 2005
While the town has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars installing hydrants and purchasing other equipment to fight backcountry fires, its rating for fire protection in that area lags behind that of central Greenwich.
Last December, the New Jersey-based ISO, which evaluates the town's fire protection, gave the town a slightly improved split rating of 4/8B, with 1 being the highest score, and the lower 8B rating applying to much of the backcountry, according to Dave Dasgupta, a spokesman for the independent rating agency. Many insurance companies use the rating to help set homeowner premiums.
The town's prior split rating of 5/9 was issued in 1990, according to town officials.
When battling blazes at large backcountry homes, firefighters have had to link more than a mile of hose to get enough water, Deputy Fire Chief Mike Puterbaugh said.
In the winter, the water supply problem is more acute when water sources turn to ice, Puterbaugh said.
The creation of the North Street fire station and expansion of the Banksville firehouse, plans for a King Street firehouse, as well as the addition of "dry" hydrants -- which connect to ponds, streams or groundwater -- in water-poor neighborhoods contributed to the improved rating, Puterbaugh said.
Department officials are considering adding a larger water tank to the design of a new fire engine to be purchased for the Glenville Fire Department, he said.
But for the time being, the department's dry hydrant project is on hold because the inspector in charge of the initiative has been on injury leave, Puterbaugh said.
Since 2002, the department has installed roughly a dozen of the hydrants in the town's backcountry neighborhoods at a cost of between $12,000 and $16,000 each, Puterbaugh said. Another eight to 10 are in the works.
"More and more areas have better protection and we already have a much greater portion of the backcountry covered," Puterbaugh said.
Under ISO guidelines, areas with an 8B rating have insufficient water supplies but have met a minimum requirement for providing 200 gallons per minute for 20 minutes during the initial response to a fire. The 8B rating is a special designation meaning the rating is between an 8 and 9.
A class 4 rating indicates that training, organization and water supply in the department is sufficient, and is the highest rating available for a fire department made up of permanent career and volunteer firefighters.
The ISO classifications are based on field evaluations, Dasgupta said, weighted 50 percent on the adequate personnel and training to provide a response, 40 percent on access to a necessary water supply and 10 percent on fire alarm and communications systems.
"The (8B) rating refers to a town that has everything but sufficient water supply," Dasgupta said.
So far, the improved insurance rating has not prompted her insurance company to lower her home insurance rates, said Joan Caldwell, a director of the North Greenwich Association and a Riversville Road resident.
Scattered property owners have equipped their properties with dry lines that can be used by firefighters to siphon swimming pool water to fight fires, Caldwell said, adding that the eventual installation of more dry hydrants would reduce the risk to property.
"I think the better rating has to do with the increased number of volunteers and bringing some new apparatus on line, as well as the North Street fire station," Caldwell said. "That should help individual owners see a slightly better rate."
The Stamford Fire Department has a similar split ISO rating based on water supply shortages north of the Merritt Parkway, Stamford Fire Chief Robert McGrath said. Ratings for the downtown area and Springdale are a 3, McGrath said, with ratings north of the Merritt Parkway ranging from 5 to 8 in the areas covered by combination departments, a difference based on varying water supply and manpower levels. McGrath said Stamford aims to boost that rating to a straight 5.
To that end, Bridgeport-based Aquarion Water Co., is expanding its water main system and installing hydrants in the farther reaches of the city, on Long Ridge Road and High Ridge Road above the Merritt Parkway, Eden and Erskine roads near the New Canaan line, and Quarry Road and New England Drive. "If we get to a fire in its incipient stage, you only need a small amount of water to knock it down without utilizing your municipal water system," McGrath said.
McGrath has arranged for the ISO agency to return in March to revise the city's downtown rating from 3 to a 2 after making suggested improvements on responding to alarms and buying an additional ladder truck for the Springdale department. "We've addressed all the concerns they gave us," McGrath said.
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