Monday, September 12, 2016

Osgood Volunteer Fire Department Improves Insurance Service Rating to a Class Five and Receives 2015 Fire Act Grant for new firehose.


The Insurance Services Organization recently visited the Osgood Volunteer Fire Department to complete a departmental audit. Most insurance company’s use the data collected by this organization to set their annual rates for fire protection.

The Osgood Fire Department’s coverage area consists of the Villages of Osgood and Yorkshire, Patterson Township, and a portion of Wabash Township in Darke County. They also cover a portion of Marion Township in Mercer County. The entire area has no pressurized hydrants and relies on ponds to perform firefighting operations. The department has fourteen ponds in their coverage area that home owners have granted the department access too as a water source. The twenty eight Osgood volunteer firefighters are trained in, hazmat operations, auto extrication, ice water rescue, and fire prevention. The department responds with two Engines each capable of pumping 1500 gallons per minute and carrying 1000 gallons of water, a tanker carrying 2100 gallons of water and a grass truck with a 300 gallon per minute pump carrying 250 gallons of water.

The organizations auditor reviewed the department’s procedures, internal paperwork, and ensured that the department was able to flow 250 gallons of water per minute within five minutes of arriving at a simulated fire scene. Also included in the audit were many aspects of how the department operates, including training levels of the firefighters, testing of ladders, pumps, hoses and self-contained breathing apparatus’s to ensure that all of their equipment is ready when needed. The department is graded on a scale of one to ten with one being the highest possible score and ten having no fire protection at all. The auditor compiled all of this information into a grading scale to determine that the departments rating would improve from a Class 6 to a Class 5 rating.

Osgood Volunteer Fire Department received $23,670 dollars from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The department will be required to contribute a cost match of $1,183 dollars bringing the total amount of the grant to $24,853 dollars. The grant awarded on July 8, 2016 from the Department of Homeland Security will be used to replace 1-¾ inch hose, changing existing 4 inch supply hose to five inch supply hose and the appropriate fittings to make this conversion. Money from this grant will also be used to purchase a hose tester to ensure that the hose is tested to current NFPA standards.

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