Professional Standards
The Judson Fire Department adheres to standards set forth by various State and National agencies.
SFFMA- Judson Fire is in good standing with the State Firefighters and Fire Marshals Association. Members are certified to various levels including Firefighter 2, Officer Certifications, Rescue, Instructor and various other topics. This association allows state credentialing and advancement through the department.
TCFP - Although Judson Fire Department is not regulated by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, many members have opted to meet the requirements and standards for Firefighter II, Hazmat Awareness and Hazmat Operations. TCFP is responsible for overseeing and regulating the credentialing of paid/career fire departments. Fire Personnel must meet minimum continuing Education requirements to renew each year.
DSHS - The Texas Department of State Health Services is responsible for licensing and oversight of EMS systems in the State. DSHS Provides licensing and oversite of our Fire Responder Program, EMTs and Paramedics in the department. Our first responder license must be renewed every two years, with EMS certification every four years. EMS personnel are required to complete Continuing Education to renew.
The State of Texas Fire Marshal's Office is the state agency charged with the oversight of all fire incident‐reporting requirements. Each month the department uploads all reports to the State. This locally collected data is meshed with the same data from fire departments across the state and nation for the purpose of identifying trends in fire origin and cause, fire‐related death and injury, response typing, and the financial impact of fire loss.
Insurance Service Office (ISO)
The Insurance Service Office is a nationally recognized authority for categorizing fire departments based upon their capabilities of providing fire protection for their communities. The ISO grading schedule replaced the Key Rate system in Texas in the late 1980's as the preferred method for calculating a community's property insurance rates, hence the lower the ISO grade of a fire department, the lower the property insurance rates for the community. The ISO grades fire departments based upon a scale that ranges from a Class‐1 to a Class‐10 grading. A Class‐10 would refer to a community that has no established fire protection for its residents and property. A Class‐1 would refer to the fire department in a community that has met all of the minimum requirements, as defined, to operate effectively as a fire department in providing public fire protection. This grading schedule is based upon the following three areas:
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50% of the grade is for the actual fire department and factors areas such as staffing, stations, apparatus, equipment, training, etc.,
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40% of the grade is based on the community's water delivery system and factors items such as needed fire flows, water storage capabilities, fire hydrant distribution, etc.,
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10% of the grade is based on the community's communications capabilities and factors things such as 911 service, radio communications, redundancy systems for both, etc.
Judson Fire Department is currently seeking re-evaluation to lower its rating.
The National Fire Protection Association stands as a nationally recognized body for establishing guidance criteria for fire departments operating in the United States. The NFPA has criteria ranging from the Life Safety Code, National Electrical Code, and various Building Codes; yet, more specifically impacts fire departments in areas such as Firefighter Safety. These guidelines affect all aspects of a fire department ranging from fire apparatus design, firefighter protective equipment, and firefighter tools and appliances. In the U.S The NFPA is the standard that fire departments measure against.
