The Troy Fire Department will be receiving a newly built 100-foot ladder truck later this summer, which will likely boost its ISO rating, which ultimately benefits everyone in Troy. 

The ISO rating is a rating assigned by the Insurance Services Office to fire departments indicating their ability to protect a community from fire. The lower the rating, the better and is a key factor in determining property insurance costs for both homeowners and businesses. Troy currently has an ISO rating of 2, with the best possible rating being 1. 

“This is the highest rated the Fire Department has ever been,” Troy Fire Chief Michael Stephens said. “The rating is based on fire department response time to structure fires, how many boots are on the ground for a structure fire, it looks at water distribution and the water department is very involved in this. Our dispatch is also heavily involved in this. There’s a lot of facets to it, not just the fire department. We tote the weight of the good, bad and ugly but it’s a multiple faceted thing to receive the ISO rating.” 

Troy Mayor Jason Reeves talked about some of the investments the city has made in the fire department. 

“The ISO rating is bolstered by manpower, equipment and access to water,” Reeves continued. “The fact that Troy has its own water system and multiple wells in the Tuscaloosa aquifer gives us more access to water than most cities our size. Over the last decade or so we have been able to add a station, equipment and are currently at the highest employment level for the fire department at any time in Troy’s history.” 

Another investment the city has made that will pay dividends in the next ISO rating is a new $1.9 million 100-foot ladder truck the city originally purchased back in 2023. After more than two years of production, Stephens expects it to be in service by mid-August.

“I can’t thank the city council and mayor enough because they give us the resources to get us where we need to be,” Stephens said. “Right now, we have a 75-foot ladder truck and now we’ll have a 100-foot ladder truck on the frontline and the (75-foot ladder truck) in reserves. That will help our ISO rating in the future. The(new)  truck is replacing a 20-year-old truck, which will probably remain in reserves for five to 10 more years.”
The new ladder truck will also give the fire department even better abilities to fight large structure fires.

“We have a lot of 4-plus story buildings in Troy,” Stephens said. “Some of those are with the university and some are not. This new ladder (truck) has a bucket on the back, which helps on the rescue side. It also has dual water ways up there so that you can disperse water in two different directions.” 

Reeves said he is proud of the improvements and investments the city has made in the fire department.

“The prior leadership of both the city and fire service laid a foundation that has allowed Chief Stephens and Deputy Chief (Curtiss) Shaver to expand and diversify what we offer and I am very proud of all the department has accomplished,” said Reeves. “We are certainly at the top in the Southeast per capita. The teamwork of Troy Fire and PD with E911, the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, ALEA and Troy University PD are rare and exceptional.” 

A lower ISO rating means lower insurance rates for homeowners and for businesses in Troy. When industry and businesses look at coming to an area, insurance plays a key factor. Stephens emphasized the importance of the investments Troy has made in the fire department, not just for ISO ratings but community safety, as well.

“You have to have the mayor and council’s support, it takes money to do what we do,” Stephens said. “There are not very many departments our size that have a brand new 100-foot platform coming in. That just speaks volumes about our council and the mayor and how they handle the money and recruiting to the city. The diversity of what’s going on in the city as far as industries is impressive. We’re just very fortunate to have the kind of resources we have.”