For firefighters, "it's obviously a coveted rating."
No other fire department in Massachusetts--not Boston, not Lynn, not Logan Airport, not Seekonk--is Class One.
Many are classes two, three, and four; there are 10 classes overall. A class 10 ranking means an area has little or no fire protection. Many rural areas receive this designation.
Only 33 departments in the country--that's 33 out of 43,000--merit a Class One ranking.
This one little number, say both Dasgupta, an insurance industry spokesperson, and Reardon, a fire department spokesman, can mean a substantial savings for residents.
Although ISO's ratings most directly affect commercial insurance rates, they often affect residential rates as well.
"I can tell you that if [someone] lives in Woburn, a class four, and [someone] lives in the same house in Cambridge, your rates will be lower" in Cambridge, Dasgupta says.