Mayor George Flaggs Jr. wants the Vicksburg Fire Department to reach a Class 1 fire rating — the top fire rating in the state that no other fire department in the state holds — within five years.

According to the Mississippi State Rating Bureau, the highest rated fire departments in the state presently are Jackson and Southaven, which both have Class 3 ratings.

“I want the board to adopt a comprehensive plan that will get us to a Class 1 rating,” Flaggs told Fire Chief Charles Atkins and other city officials Thursday at a meeting to prepare a five-year plan for the fire department. “That’s the goal. If not, there’s no need in trying. We may not get to Class 1, but I certainly believe we can get better than 3 or 2. We’re headed in that direction. That’s the reason for a comprehensive plan. A five-year plan should help us reach a goal of 90 points (the minimum score for a Class 1 rating), which is 16 less than 106 points (the highest score).”

Vicksburg currently has a Class 5 fire rating, Atkins said, adding the city has had that rating for 31 years.

“That is totally unacceptable for me, if I’m mayor,” Flaggs said. “I just believe in improving.”

The state’s fire rating classification range from 1 through 10, with a Class 10 being the worst.

A fire department’s rating is based on a point system that assigns a maximum score to different categories such as emergency communication, quality of equipment, manpower, the number of engine companies and water supply.

“The Mississippi Rating Bureau has everything to do what the fire service has to do with,” Atkins said. “They govern us in a way that is done across the state. They have a scale and a model that they have to go by, and we have to adhere to if we want to move up from the rate we are now.”

To reach a Class 1 rating, a fire department must score from 90 to 106 points, according to the Rating Bureau. Vicksburg, with a score between 50 and 59, is one of 21 fire departments with a Class 5 rating.

“I think we’re better than half the cities that have a Class 5 rating,” Flaggs said.

Thursday, the committee, which includes Atkins, deputy chiefs Kenneth Daniels and Craig Danczyk, City Attorney Nancy Thomas and human resources director Walterine Langford, looked at the fire department’s needs to improve its rating.

Atkins said the city’s layout is a problem for the department.

“Any way you look at it, time difference (shorter response time) is the key to all of this, and we have to look at population,” Atkins said.

Danczyk said the goal is to have the fire stations in a plan “that will last for the next 25 years, where we have good, equal coverage for all citizens, north, south, and where they have similar response times.”

If the necessary areas are identified and the department’s assets are dispersed so response times are similar, “We’ll get a better grade, have a better response time and possibly lower our fire rating,” he said.

Atkins recommended purchasing a quint fire truck, truck that can perform five functions as a pumper, water truck, hose truck, aerial device, and ladder truck, as a way to backup the department’s aerial trucks. Danczyk said a quint would provide extra support if paired with a pumper at a station like Station 5.

Atkins also said the department would have to meet state manpower regulations, which require at lease three firefighters on each truck and four on an aerial truck. He said that would require 38 to 42 people per shift. Flaggs suggested the requirement could be met by consolidating stations.

The chief pointed out another manpower problem, saying that as of May 1 the department will not have a fire inspector. Fire inspector Leslie Sanders retires this month and James Young left the fire department to be the city’s safety director.

He said the department has people qualified to do the work, but the pay is not enough to interest anyone in the department. He said fire department captains can do the administrative work like inspections and records, but the department has to go to the state Fire Marshal’s office to get an arson investigator.

Flaggs established the fire department committee in January to develop a five-year plan for the fire department that looked at equipment, fire stations and firefighter pay. At a March 12 meeting, the committee discussed plans to upgrade the department’s equipment, eventually phase out three fire stations and construct new ones at better locations.

The board has hired the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District to do a study of the city and recommend locations for fire stations to provide better coverage and response. City officials have also discussed having an emergency medical station on Clay Street to improve ambulance response to accidents on Interstate 20.