STERLING – Twin City Joint Fire Command received more good news from the Insurance Services Office.

Like Rock Falls, the ratings that measure a city’s fire protection capabilities showed improvement in Sterling.

The ISO’s evaluation process resulted in Sterling improving from class 4 to 3, in both the city and rural areas. The ratings system for fire departments ranges from classes 1 to 10, with 1 being the best designation.

Chief Gary Cook presented the results for Rock Falls at the Sept. 15 council meeting.

Rock Falls improved from 5 to 4 in the city, and from an 8B rating to a 4 in rural areas. An area is considered rural if it is at least 5 miles from a fire station.

In addition to the obvious safety implications, the ratings can affect insurance premiums because they are used by some property/casualty insurers to help determine rates.

“Many companies do use these, because about 85 percent of a homeowner’s insurance is for fire,” Cook said.

Cook said he has even had insurance agents call him to help keep down their clients’ premiums when companies have substantial rate increases in the works.

ISO bases 50 percent of the scores on fire fighting, while 40 percent is related to water availability, and the other 10 comes from communications, including 911 and mapping services.

The city scored particularly well for alternative water supplies, which are available at the Whiteside County Airport and Nelson Energy plant. Sterling also has water hydrants all the way to the Walmart Distribution Center.

Cook said the 2013 administrative consolidation of the departments has been a factor in this year’s results, and it should continue to produce consistency in operations.

“The consolidation brought a ton of coordination between the departments,” Cook said. “We had a collaborative relationship before, but this has taken standardization to the next level.”

The firefighters are training together and collaborating on inspections. Even for school inspections, the firefighters make sure they visit both cities.

“We want them familiar with all of the buildings, so that if they have to go to the other side, they are hitting on all cylinders,” Cook said.

The equipment is now the same in both departments, even the type of defibrillators used. The same database is used for records and training codes.

The ratings are good for a 10-year period, although ISO is considering doing the evaluations every 5 years. The new ratings classifications are effective Dec. 1.