Every year, dozens of fire departments don't get full credit on their Insurance Services Office ratings because they don't run a ladder company. Lack of money is often cited as the reason. What many of them don't realize is that they could get most, or all, of that credit if they ran a lower-cost service company instead.

A service company is probably one of the least-understood pieces of fire apparatus. It's not an aerial and it carries only a minimum of ground ladders. In fact, it doesn't have to be a separate apparatus at all. If your department doesn't have a ladder company and would like to improve your ISO rating, here are some service company specs that may help you.

Service versus Ladder
A service company carries equipment for forcible entry, ventilation, overhaul and salvage. This equipment can be transported on a separate service company apparatus or on a rescue, pumper or incident support vehicle. The apparatus must be dispatched automatically on all first-alarm structure fires to be given credit. Normal staffing is six people, with prorated credit for fewer personnel.

A ladder company carries all the equipment of a service company, plus ground ladders and an aerial device with elevated master stream. This equipment can be transported on a separate ladder company apparatus or on a quint that doubles as a pumper. Like a service company, the apparatus must be dispatched automatically on all first-alarm structure fires. Normal staffing is six people, with prorated credit for fewer personnel.

To determine whether you need a service company or a ladder company, follow these guidelines: Any area where there are five or more buildings that are three stories or 35 feet or more in height, or five or more buildings that have a needed fire flow greater than 3,500gpm, or five or more buildings that have any combination of these, will need a ladder company. Otherwise, the area needs only a service company.

Simply stated, a department that protects areas with nothing larger than one- and two-story homes and small businesses can get up to 5 points credit on their overall ISO rating if they run a properly equipped service company on every structure fire.

Service Company Equipment
ISO specifies certain types and quantities of equipment for service companies and assigns points for each. Some items are worth a lot, others not so much. Departments should concentrate on the big items to maximize their points.

Here is a list of the equipment, quantities and points:

Total for all equipment is 334 points,

A quick glance down the list shows that the big items are the mounted radio (32 points) and portable radio (16 points), generator (25 points), smoke ejector (20 points), power saw (20 points), and oxyacetylene cutting unit (20 points). ISO allows departments to substitute some items for others. For example, it allows a hydraulic or pneumatic cutting tool in place of the oxyacetylene cutting unit. Note that there are no points for an apparatus or for any major apparatus-related components, such as a pump or an aerial. Service company points are based entirely on the equipment.

To determine the credit for a service company, ISO takes the total points earned and divides it by the total possible to determine the proration. For example, if a department didn't carry any extra SCBA cylinders, any ladders or any salvage covers, it would still get 281 points out of 334 possible. That would prorate the 5.00 possible points down to 4.20 points, which is still a good increase to the overall rating.

Getting Started
First, contact your local ISO representative or go to the ISO Web site at http://www.isomitigation.com for more information about equipment substitutions (called equivalency), staffing, station locations (called distribution), record-keeping and other important topics affecting the use of service companies.

Next, list the equipment you already carry on your pumpers, rescues and other first-responding apparatus — you might already have some of the necessary service company equipment and not know it. Check the equivalency list to determine if you can substitute an item on the list for another that you already have. Review the equipment that you don't have and decide if the points earned justify the cost of purchase.

Finally, decide how you want to carry this equipment. Will it all fit on your first-out structure pumper? That would certainly minimize the number of vehicles and number of drivers needed. Can you carry most of it on a rescue unit that could be dispatched to structure fires? Or do you need to purchase an additional apparatus?

No matter what your decision, it may be worth your effort to look into it. Not every department needs to run a full ladder company with an aerial, but everyone can benefit if they run a service company.