Unprotected Area Large County areas not within boundaries of existing rural fire protection districts (RFPD’s) and outside of city limits are designated "unprotected" in the 2004 Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan (JCIFP). This large area designates the wild land county areas that may or may not have structures. These rural and urban county areas with structures can be protected by formation of local RFPD’s, paid for by a voter approved permanent tax rate on property within that district.

While these 12 neighborhoods are not within a fire taxing district they do have fire services provided by private corporations that act as "fire departments".

RFPD’s Outside of city limits RFPD’s are formed by voter approval to deliver structural fire protection service within a certain part of their county. Josephine County has four existing RFPD’s

• Applegate RFPD #9 (ISO Class 6/9)

• Illinois Valley RFPD (ISO Class7/10)

• Williams RFPD (ISO Class 7/10)

• Wolf Creek RFPD (ISO Class 7/10)

Quality of Fire Protection The ISO (Insurance Service Office) is a nationwide service organization that helps establish appropriate fire insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties; insurance companies need reliable, up-to-date information about a community’s fire-protection services. There is no charge to local fire departments for this ISO service.

Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program does not meet ISO minimum criteria.

By classifying Communities’ ability to suppress fires, ISO helps communities evaluate their public fire-protection services. The objective is to recognize the impact that effective public fire protection has on individual property fire insurance rates. Citizens are concerned about the quality of structural fire protection service that is available to prevent loss of property, life or personal injury by fire.

ISO Ratings The ISO classification ratings provide a recognized, nation wide standard for comparison of the quality of fire protection service delivered by public RFPD’s, city or privately owned fire depart-ments. A public protection classification from 1 to 10 is assigned. ISO Class 1 represents exemplary public protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire-suppression program does not meet ISO minimum criteria. A Class 10 also results for locations in remote areas at a distance greater than five miles from a fire station.

Except by ISO classifications, the fire community has not evaluated the difference between the quality of fire protection service delivered by public RFPD’s verus private fire departments.

Meaningful public involvement and, therefore, an "informed public" and "informed decision-makers" need relevant facts. For example, it is easy to distinguish between the legal responsibilities of RFPD’s versus private fire departments. However, when compared to costs, do these regulations, differences, or accountability standards, translate into a different quality of fire protection provided? Public distribution of fire department performance standards promotes an "informed public" who can cast their votes based on relevant facts. Comparisons can even be drawn between large or small public RFPD’s and private fire departments.

Big picture ideas for the exploratory effort include the following.

1. Identifying a range of boundaries for potential RFPD(s).

2. Identifying a range in level of services from potential RFPD(s).

3. Identifying a range of fees or assessments for services from potential RFPD(s).

4. Identifying revenues for services from potential RFPD(s).

The ultimate goal is a higher level of fire protection service for a lower cost.

The purpose of the Exploratory Committee is to gather information adequate enough to understand the rules/process to form a potential RFPD (i.e., rules, difficulty, pros and cons, levels of service, fees/ assessments, elections, etc.). This includes educational outreach efforts.

The Exploratory Committee’s purpose is limited to investigating and researching the potential (i.e., merits and liabilities) for forming a RFPD. Other potential actions will be considered and acted upon by other entities after the Exploratory Committee’s purpose has ended.

The contents of this brochure are expressions of the opinions and beliefs of those that contribute based on their thoughts and experiences and are not presented for any other purpose.

- Donations Are Not Tax Deductible -

Edited by Exploratory Committee

1. More information is provided in the Exploratory Committee’s educational outreach program of 16 brochures.