JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 27, 2005 — ISO fire protection program official Dennis Gage has received the Ray Picard Award for 2005 from the Commission of Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) for his "unwavering commitment" to improving fire protection in the U.S.
The award is named after Ray Picard, a retired fire chief from Huntington Beach, Calif., and a founding father of fire and emergency services accreditation.
In recognizing the contributions of Gage, who is manager of ISO's Public Protection Classification (PPC) program, the CFAI noted his commitment to "quality improvement, involvement in the development of the accreditation process and his six-year term as a commissioner" of the organization.
"Dennis assumes a leadership role that is often not visible by others, but it has tremendous impact," said Randy R. Bruegman, Fresno, Calif., fire chief and president of the CFAI board of directors.
"His ability to quietly articulate, work behind the scenes and build consensus has helped to make the CFAI and the accreditation process what it is today," he added.
ISO's PPC program evaluates communities' fire suppression capabilities based on a variety of factors, such as fire station locations, department equipment, staffing and training, the distance of individual properties from fire stations and fire hydrants, water supply and fire communications.
Following its comprehensive review and analysis of these factors, ISO then assigns communities a fire protection classification that ranges from 1 (best) to 10 (less than minimum recognized protection). ISO's classifications are used by property insurance companies as one of many factors in determining homeowners and commercial property insurance rates.
The CFAI provides a comprehensive system of fire and emergency services evaluation that can help local governments determine their risks and fire safety needs, assess the performance of the organizations involved and provide a method for continuous improvement. This self-assessment process allows communities to evaluate their entire emergency services delivery system accurately and identify strengths and weaknesses.
An important part of the self-assessment process is to inventory a community's risks and the associated mitigation capabilities. One way ISO's PPC program helps communities is by providing risk-assessment data from ISO's commercial properties database within their respective fire service boundaries.
About ISO
ISO is a leading provider of products and services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. ISO provides data, analytics and decision-support solutions to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government and human resources. Clients use ISO's databases and services to classify and evaluate a variety of risks and detect potential fraud. In the U.S. and around the world, ISO's services help customers protect people, property and financial assets.
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Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com