MACON, Ga. — The Macon-Bibb Fire Department says once again they've earned the highest safety rating possible.
It's called the Public Protection Classification Rating and it's awarded by an outside agency called the Insurance Services Office. They rate departments on how well they are serving their community. Chief Edwards says this isn't a one-time audit.
"We continue to meet these goals and these benchmarks throughout the year continuously, so it's an ongoing process. This isn't a one-time thing that happens. It's reoccurring every few years and we wanted to make sure that we are where we needed to be to make sure that Macon-Bibb County is class one," Edwards said.
Fire officials say the high ranking keeps homeowner insurance low. Edwards says central Georgia has the state's lowest homeowners premiums.
In 1984, the fire department became the first in the state to earn a class one certification under former fire chief Jimmy Henson.
They're still the only department in central Georgia to hold the class one certification. Chief Edwards says he's not the only one who helps in the audit.
"Our deputy fire chief, Ron Smith was very instrumental in making sure that we had everything in place. Every bit of equipment is in place. Our training chief Parker was responsible for making sure that the apparatus had all the equipment on it and making sure that all of our training staff was up to the standards of making sure that every firefighter in Macon-Bibb County met every training hour that was required," Edwards says.
Daniel Scott recently joined the county's fire department. He says the high rating means being held to a higher standard physically and mentally.
"You see it a lot, you hear it a lot, and we've really learned that being a class one is very important. Not only to the fire department but to the community and we try to uphold that as much as we can," Scott said.
Scott told 13WMAZ he wanted to join the fire department because he wanted to have a career with purpose and give back to his community.
The agency rates departments on emergency communications, water supply systems, fire suppression, and training. Executive Director of Macon Water Authority, Ron Shipman, says the water supply systems make up 40% of the audit score.
"How we and why we do that is because it's simply based on the adequacy of water supply. So when the chief needs it in an emergency, we've got to make sure it's there and it is to be delivered," Shipman said.
Shipman says in 2023, 39,000 communities were audited and Bibb County was one of less than 500 given the class one rating.