Pa. Department Going After Lower ISO Rating

April 24, 2014
McAdoo Fire Chief Bob Leshko is working to save Kline Township residents cash.

April 17--McAdoo Fire Chief Bob Leshko said his department has worked to bring down a number that will ultimately save money for residents of Kline Township.

The number between 1 and 10 is called a public protection classification, and is based on the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule. In this case, the lower the number, the better.

Insurance companies buy information from the Insurance Services Office (ISO) to evaluate fire departments and depending on whether the number is higher or lower it can affect how much of a premium is paid by homeowners in a certain municipality.

Leshko told the Kline Township board of supervisors that the township's rating was 9, but the fire department has worked at getting it down to 4, meaning residents should be seeing lower premiums with their homeowners insurance policies.

The amount is difficult to calculate, Leshko said, but "it should be lower." If a homeowner finds that their premium has not gone down, Leshko said they should contact their insurance agent or carrier.

The Fire Suppression Rating Schedule is the manual ISO uses in reviewing fire departments.

A lot of items are taken into consideration to arrive at a public protection classification number. They include fire stations and practices, how effectively a fire department fights fires, fire hydrant inspections and frequency of flow training, number of trained personnel, maintenance and testing of fire equipment, emergency communications, overall operation of fire departments and water supply availability.

Also taken into account are fire prevention programs and public safety education, fire investigation, computer-aided dispatch facilities and how well firefighters are notified about the location of the fire or emergency.

Electronics recycling

In other business at their meeting Monday, the supervisors said they were very pleased with a recent electronics recycling collection in which more than 300 televisions and monitors were turned in by township residents.

"They will be hauled by truck to Ashland for recycling," supervisors Chairman Carmen Cara said.

Audit report

Kline Township received its annual audit report for 2013 from the board of auditors and the outlook is good based on the report, according to Cara.

Other business

The supervisors also:

- Approved buying macadam from the lowest bidder, Pennsy Supply of Dorrance Township, at a cost of $56 per ton. Other bids were from Barletta Materials and Construction, Tamaqua, for $67.50 per ton and Hazleton Site Contractors, Eckley, for $58.50 per ton.

- Approved the purchase of a 2000 International truck for $10,000 from Rush Township. The board also approved blade modification for the plow at a cost of $400.

- Approved advertising for bids on two trucks the township wants to sell: A 1988 International tandem dump truck with aluminum body and a 1989 GMC single-axle dump truck with plow.

The trucks will be sold as is. They can be inspected at the township building at 30 Fifth St., Kelayres.

The deadline for bids is May 9. All bids can be rejected by the board of supervisors.

- Approved April 26 as the official spring cleanup day in Kline Township.

- Contacted Ed Shemansky of the Hazleton Area School District asking that a sign in front of the McAdoo-Kelayres Elementary/Middle School be removed because it is blocking traffic from leaving the school in a safe manner. Shemansky said the sign would be moved to another location.

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Copyright 2014 - Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.

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