Valencia County earns improved ISO rating

Incremental steps over the years have led to an improvement of the Valencia County Fire Department’s ISO rating to a 3.

What does that mean is plain terms? It means staffing has increased, more calls are covered and insurance rates for home and business owners in unincorporated areas of the county should see a decrease.

The Insurance Services Office Fire Score is a rating that determines how well a fire department can protect a community. Insurance companies use the score to help set home insurance rates, as a home that is less likely to be severely damaged or destroyed by fire is cheaper to insure.

A district’s ISO rating is a reflection of its ability to protect the community based on factors such as staffing, training, equipment, water supply and emergency communication systems.

The rating is on a scale of 1 to 10, with the lower the number the better.

VCFD Chief Matt Propp said the accomplishment is significant because it not only indicates department-wide improvement and training, it is also a county-wide rating. For much of its existence, Valencia County operated its fire services in multiple, individual fire districts, each with its own ISO rating.

Propp said some districts were at a 4, while others were in the 7 to 9 range. In recent years, the county has consolidated its fire districts in favor of one county-wide district.

Consolidation efforts began in 2020 under former VCFD chief Brian Culp, and in 2023, Propp got the go ahead from the Valencia County Commission to combine the then four districts into one district in an effort to make better use of funds, resources and staff.

The three fire districts that received ISO ratings — Tomé, Valencia Del Norte and Los Chavez — had ratings of 4, 5 and 7, respectively.

“Achieving a 3 for a county-wide department isn’t common,” Propp said. “There are very few in the state. Bernalillo County, for example, is a 2, and it’s a much larger department in terms of staffing and equipment.”

ISO ratings break down into three basic categories — a 1 to 3 is considered good; 4 to 6 is average and needs improvement; 7 to 9 needs improvement and a 10 is uninsurable.

The VCFD’s primary service area is the unincorporated areas of Valencia County, including Meadow Lake, El Cerro, Tierra Grande, Highland Meadows, Los Chavez, Jarales and Tomé. The five municipalities in the county have their own fire departments, which each have their own ISO ratings.

The New Mexico State Fire Marshal’s Office helps departments prepare for ISO assessments, and going into the most recent evaluation, Propp said the office pinpointed the department’s staffing as the primary area of concern.

“When they do the evaluation, they want to see a reliable, consistent number of people on staff,” he said. “That’s why it’s been so important for us to increase our paid staff members.”

It’s one thing to have high staff numbers, but the ISO rating also considers how well trained those firefighters are. The chief said the department’s decision to hire a full-time training captain — Antoinette Walmsley — about two years ago was instrumental to achieving the higher rating.

“She’s made sure there’s training happening every shift and it’s being documented,” Propp said.

Other factors considered in the rating is a department’s apparatus, ability to move water and emergency communication systems.

“Three years ago, we had trucks that wouldn’t start — trucks that failed pump tests,” Propp said. “We’ve replaced a good portion of the fleet; they will all pass a pump test.”

What’s called “time to water” is unsurprisingly also a critical part of rating a department. While municipal fire departments typically have a hydrant system to connect to for water, rural departments like Valencia County have to bring their own in tenders.

“They were very impressed with how quickly we can move water in,” the chief said. “We’ve put a lot of effort into training our crews and our partner agencies on water movement and how to efficiently and quickly get large amounts of water to a scene.”

Agencies outside the fire department itself are also key to its ISO rating, such as the Valencia Regional Emergency Communications Center.

“I have to give a ton of credit to Tommy (Sanchez, VRECC district director),” Propp said. “For what they do for our ISO rating, they’re spot on.”

Additionally, having robust mutual and automatic aid agreements in place with neighboring agencies, as well as the recent metro chiefs agreement, shows ISO evaluators the county has built a large network of recourses.

“They can see we have a tie in with Bernalillo County and Albuquerque fire and we’re able to pull resources in quickly during a large incident,” he said.

Another partnership that aids the remote parts of the county is the 2023 intergovernmental agreement with the Pueblo of Laguna to allow pueblo emergency personnel to man the county fire station in Highland Meadows while providing services to the county residents in the area.

Highland Meadows is a small community of about 460 people on N.M. 6, about 32 miles west of the village of Los Lunas.

With the department’s improved ISO rating, business properties and homeowners in unincorporated parts of the county could save hundreds to thousands of dollars on their insurance costs, depending on the property.

“It could also be something of an economic driver,” Propp said. “Some companies might be hesitant to come here due to higher insurance rates. This could help with that.”

As the department continues to improve and grow, the chief said quality of services will also continue to improve.

“By having more paid staff, we are able to answer calls more efficiently and reliably. What we want, and what the ISO evaluation looks for, is 100 percent reliability,” he said. “That’s hard to do with volunteers, and that’s not to know volunteers. They have jobs and aren’t always able to respond.

“We never want to tell anyone they aren’t getting a response. In 2022, we answered about 70 percent of the calls for our jurisdiction. The rest were answered by other agencies.

“Now, we’re in the high 90s (percentage wise). We are very nearly answering all calls and we’re very proud of that.”