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By improving the level of fire service from
ISO Class 3 to ISO Class 1 the Houston Fire Department saved the
residences of Houston $401,000,000 in
reduced insurance rates a year. The estimated savings for commercial property
owners is three times that.
The population of Houston in the 2000
census was 1,953,631, and the population of the United States was
281,421,906. Extrapolating, the savings for the whole country would be
$231,057,316,977. The problem with this estimate is that the Houston Fire
Department was ISO Class 3, and just over 96% of the US Fire Departments
are ISO Class 4 or lower. In fact, 14,951 of the 45,898 fire
departments in the US are ISO Class 9 (the second worst rating). This
implies that the savings could be substantially greater.
Another point to consider is that 60% of
the population of the United States is in towns populations of 31,730 or
less. Many of these communities have the lower ISO Class rating, and will
be experiencing the greater population grows--increased property values
-> increased insurance payments.
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- More Firefighters - More jobs
- Initially, increased construction of
fire stations, and purchasing of new firefighting
equipment--stimulated economy.
- The insurance rate saving is per year,
and would continue to be a saving every year that a ISO Class
difference would have existed. Example, the Houston Fire
Department's rural ISO Class rating was 9, and had been so for 80
years.
- More lives would be saved by the quicker
responses
- Quicker responses would allow for fewer
and less severe injuries.
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