Fire Factors
Cambridge is one of the oldest cities in America. It's packed with people from block to block.
Housing ranges from precarious, blaze-prone clapboards to cavernous high-rises.
Adding to the potential danger are the dozens of companies producing hazardous waste, and the universities with complex chemical laboratories.
Subways, too, are prone to fire. Underground water systems blow manhole covers 50 feet into the air.
Since insurance rates are based in part on how well cities can respond to potential disasters, and the above factors affect the fire department more than any other city agency, the fire department's quality is a major factor in insurance rates.
To help insurance companies zero in on rates, the New-York-based Insurance Services Office assesses fire departments around the country. That's the ISO of Cambridge's ISO Class One designation.
Read more in News
Mayor Advocates Wage IncreaseRecommended Articles
-
Firefighters Struggle To Control Electrical Fire in Crate & BarrelWhile many students spent yesterday afternoon outside enjoying the sunny, 60-degree weather, firefighters experienced temperatures that soared into the hundreds
-
Building Catches Fire in CambridgeDarlene D. Lin '97 was catching up on some reading in her Leverett House dorm room. Then her pager went
-
Five-Alarm Fire Obliterates ShopA five-alarm fire blazed through a Fresh Pond Parkway auto repair shop yesterday and threatened to consume a nearby gas
-
Lecture on Fire Insurance Rates at 8Mr. Henry E. Hess, of New York, will lecture on "The Proper Assessment of Fire Insurance Rates in Great Cities"
-
Blaze Guts Two ApartmentsMore than 15 familes were left homeless last night after a sevenalarm fire gutted two Cambridge St. apartment buildings. The
-
Bank Is Evacuated By False Fire AlarmA Harvard Square bank was evacuated for 25 minutes Monday afternoon while Cambridge firefighters searched for the source of smoke
