Firefighters work tirelessly to serve their surrounding communities. Aside from the obvious ways that firefighters serve, receiving a good Insurance Service Office (ISO) and Public Protection Classification (PPC) is more valuable to a community than people may realize.

There are 10 classes that a fire department can receive after being evaluated by the ISO. Receiving a class 1 rating signifies a superior level of protection, while receiving a class 10 rating indicates less than the minimum recognized protection.

So how does a fire department’s PPC directly affect community members? It’s simple, actually.  The higher a community’s PPC, the lower the insurance premiums are for residents and local businesses. For this reason, it’s important for fire departments to put their community members first and strive for a class 1 rating.

A department’s PPC is broken down for evaluation into four main categories: fire department, emergency communications, water supply and community risk reduction. For lakeside communities, cities on rivers, coastal cities and ports, investing in a fire boat could improve a department’s community risk reduction score and raise the overall PPC.

Investing in a fire boat will not only lower community members’ insurance premiums, but will also benefit the fire department itself. The department will already have the necessary vessel to respond to different emergencies quickly, including fire, medical or natural disasters.

Several features that come with fire boats make the investment worthwhile. The vessel can include search and rescue equipment, compartments for safe patient transport, emergency equipment needed by crew members and more.

Purchasing a fire boat can be more affordable then most departments may know. FEMA offers two different grant program that can cover 75 percent of the cost of acquiring a fire boat. Silver Ships works with 911leasing to offer government fire districts several financing options.

If you’re looking to invest in a fire boat customized to your department needs and to help boost your ISO rating to better serve your citizens, Silver Ships can help. Learn about our fire boats that are built to last here, and contact our team for more info.