VIDEO: The Newington Volunteer Fire Department is now ranked in the top 5% of fire departments nationwide, a rare achievement for a fully volunteer force. The department was recently awarded a Class 2 rating from the Insurance Services Office (ISO), a prestigious score that puts them among the highest-rated departments in the country both volunteer and paid. Newington Fire Chief Jeff Trommer explained how the ranking is calculated.
โFifty points out of 100 is the fire department. Water supply, communication center is a percentage and community risk reduction is a percentage. They take all those numbers and go through five years of records for your station and give you a number,โ Trommer said. The ISO scale ranges from 1 to 10, with 1 being the best. A Class 2 ranking is extremely difficult to achieve, especially for departments that rely entirely on volunteers.
โSo out of 14, thatโs a combination or paid department, weโre the only volunteer department. Out of 14 departments, thereโs a couple hundred in the state of Connecticut, weโre the only volunteer,โ Trommer said. The departmentโs success is rooted in experience, commitment and a tight-knit team dynamic. Many members have decades of service under their belts.
Add it all up and the result is a culture of excellence. Deputy Chief Craig Stegmaier said the numbers speak for themselves. โA hundred is a good, comfortable number in comparison to our neighboring towns that are at 40-50 members,โ he said.
The department attributes its strong staffing to aggressive recruiting and modern outreach. โWe have Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok,โ said Captain Kirk Rosemond. But beyond technology and rankings, the department functions as a family. โItโs something that you work extremely hard for. Your entire department can take the honor of that ranking,โ Trommer said.
