Part of our series The Basics of Protection Class.
Every year, the WSRB Public Protection team evaluates communities across Washington state to determine their protection class (PC).
We often get questions from fire chiefs about how evaluations work. We are here to help make the process as smooth as possible, so in this blog post, we offer tips on preparing.
inventory of all vehicles in each station.
Every PC evaluation looks at the same four areas:
For more detail on each of these areas, click here.
At the same time, each evaluation is unique because each community is unique. Some communities have fire departments with hundreds of paid firefighters, multiple fire stations, and sophisticated computerized systems to track training, maintenance, and everything else we look at. Other communities have fire departments with a handful of volunteers operating out of a single station with one engine and may keep paper records.
We keep these differences in mind when performing evaluations, so we cannot provide a single checklist to help a fire department prepare for an evaluation.
We can, however, give you the following guidelines.
There are two key steps you can take before our visit to make the PC evaluation process easier and more efficient: send us records and provide introductions to local officials.
Most of the information we need comes from the fire department. If you send us the following at least 30 days in advance, we can save you time during the in-person visit:
Some of the information we need comes from water purveyors and building departments. WSRB is familiar with many of these agencies but could use your assistance in attaining information:
The fire protection analyst who will visit your community will give you more details on the information that is helpful to have in advance. The sooner you send us the information, the more time we’ll have to review it, and the more efficient we can make the on-site visit.
maintenance and inspection reports.
On the day of your site visit, the fire protection analyst will review records and may speak with multiple people.
To make the on-site visit as efficient as possible, have maintenance records on apparatus and equipment available. These should cover the last five years and include pump tests, hose tests, ladder tests, maintenance and inspection reports, and more. The fire protection analyst will send you a specific list of what we need from your department. No need to make copies of the records in advance; have the records available. If we need copies, the analyst will ask for them during the visit.
The analyst will also need to gather information about fire operations, training, fire code enforcement, public fire safety education, and fire investigations. In some communities, one or two people handle all these tasks, and in other communities, multiple people do. The fire protection analyst will work with you before the visit to determine who can answer our questions.
In every step of a PC evaluation, we aim to work with you to make the evaluation process smooth. We are always here to help you understand the process and make it as efficient as possible. If you have any questions, contact our Customer Service team at 206-217-0101 Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and ask to be connected to the Vice President of Public Protection.