Ranch to test fire hydrants

RANCHO SANTA FE — The Santa Fe Irrigation District and the Rancho Santa Fe Fire
Protection District will collaborate efforts in the month of November for fire flow testing of fire hydrants throughout the Rancho Santa Fe area. Several fire hydrants in the Rancho Santa Fe community will be tested, which will result in minor water loss and possible short traffic delays.
The testing will involve increased flow of water from fire hydrants, which may cause discolored water in area taps during the process.
If a customer has discolored water for more than an hour, they may call the Santa Fe Irrigation District at (858) 756-2424.
The testing is required by the Insurance Services Office to evaluate the fire suppression delivery system. The result of this review is a classification ranking that ISO distributes to insurers, helping in establishing fair premiums for fire insurance.
The ISO rating goes from one to 10 with one being the best. The ISO rates fire districts approximately every eight to 15 years unless the water or fire district can show they have made major changes that will affect the rating. The last ISO testing for the Rancho Santa Fe area was 15 years ago in which the RSF Fire Protection District received a ranking of four. Generally, a lower ISO ranking would result in more favorable insurance premiums for a community.
Fifty percent of the rating is derived by the quality of the fire department, 40 percent is based on the water supply and 10 percent by the dispatch services. The ISO staff examines a fire department’s engine companies and the amount of water needed to fight a fire in a particular community for 50 percent weight for the ISO.
For the water supply component, ISO checks whether the community has a sufficient water supply for the fire suppression beyond daily maximum consumption.