Parsons Fire Department cuts response times in half, gets better ISO rating
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PARSONS, Tenn. — Parsons Fire Department is now ranked as one of the top fire departments in the country for safety and emergency response time. As of Sunday, the Parsons Fire Department officially had an ISO rating of three, meaning they are able to respond to calls faster than the majority of other fire departments. Residents could see lower insurance costs. Firefighters in Parsons worked to clean their fire station in preparation for a celebration by the city. Monday night, the city board will recognize the department’s hard work to achieve an ISO rating of three out of 10. “They grade each fire department by this rating, and the number determines how well this particular fire department that’s being graded can deliver water or fire suppression to a fire,” Fire and Police Chief Dale King said. King said until March 1, the department had a rating of five. They started working on getting a higher rating two years ago. “We stepped up on the training, did a lot of drills, bought a lot of new equipment and things we lacked the time before that needed to be upgraded,” he said. Now, Parsons residents could have lower insurance rates. “The lower the number, the better the fire department is on how much of a discount that you may get on your fire insurance,” he said. He said those companies look at how quickly first responders can get to a fire, so he made all of his police officers firefighters too. “If a fire call comes out and the pagers go off, then I’ve got one police officer and one fireman automatically,” King said. “He could come and get the truck and respond. It cut our response time from a little over nine minutes to four minutes.” King said he hopes residents can sleep better knowing the department’s goal of finding ways to keep them safer is working. “I’m proud,” he said. “I’m excited about it, but I’m proud cause this is a great accomplishment.” King said less than four percent of fire departments across the country have a rating of three or better.
