Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.

Thunderstorms likely in the morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.

Thunderstorms likely in the morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.

Lebanon firefighter Cody Ray (left) gives information to new hires Austin Fleming and Ryan Beazley on the last day of training recently. The group of 11 new hires will spend 10 weeks at the state firefighter academy in Murfreesboro before rejoining the department. 

Lebanon Fire Chief Jason Baird

Lebanon firefighter Cody Ray (left) gives information to new hires Austin Fleming and Ryan Beazley on the last day of training recently. The group of 11 new hires will spend 10 weeks at the state firefighter academy in Murfreesboro before rejoining the department. 

Lebanon Fire Chief Jason Baird

The Lebanon Fire Department has joined the state’s top 5 percent level of fire protection after an increase in its Insurance Services Office rating.

The Insurance Services Office rating measures a community’s fire suppression capabilities and assigns a numerical grade. Lebanon’s grade improved from a Class 3 to a Class 2, making it one of 36 fire departments in the state with a Class 2 ISO rating. Only eight fire departments in the state achieved the top rating of ISO Class 1.

Lebanon Fire Chief Jason Baird said the agency analyzes three years of data, which includes emergency communications, staffing, response time, equipment, availability for multiple calls, response capacity and water supply. Baird replaced longtime chief Chris Dowell, who retired last April.

The opening of Lebanon Fire Station 4 on State Route 109, which opened in 2018, helped to increase the ISO rating. Baird said the station was needed to add protection on the west side of the city.

“We’re monitoring the data coming back from that station now and we’re already thinking about having to add another piece of equipment to that station,” said Baird, who said the equipment could be a quick response vehicle for medical calls. “That allows us to get there with a quicker response and keep our fire engine back at the bay.”

Baird said the city’s call volume has continued to increase as the population rises. This year from Jan. 1-Sept. 2, the city’s emergency call count was 5,573. For the same time period in 2021, the emergency call count was 4,850 calls.

“We’ll probably have an increase of 1,000 calls this calendar year,” said Baird, who said the city averages about 25 calls a day. “The City of Lebanon – the mayor and city council – has chosen to provide a very high-level of fire service to this community and they provide the tools for firefighters to do it.”

The department has also undergone personnel changes to its 78 firefighters, which includes promoting seven people to lieutenants and having a new hire class of 11 people that will join the department when it completes a 10-week training program at the state fire academy in Murfreesboro.

“Lieutenants will become technicians in swift water rescue and trench rescue and all of these other things, and they’ll come back and apply that teaching to our personnel,” Baird said. “They’ll be technicians. It’s just another tool in the toolbox where their skillset will be a lot more advanced than regular personnel, but they can advise and teach them to get to that level. It takes a unique individual.”

The new class of hires includes Austin Fleming and Army Reserve member Ryan Beazley.

“I wanted to commission as an officer, but I fell in love with unit and was looking for the next team and family to be a part of. Lebanon was the one that took a shot on me and gave me an opportunity and I’m extremely grateful to be here,” said Beazley.

“I’m just looking forward to helping and serving the community,” Fleming said. “All the guys, whether they’ve been here a year, two years or three years are all the same – welcoming and wanting all of the new guys to succeed. It’s just a warm atmosphere.”

Firefighter Cody Ray joined the department two years ago and said he enjoys being a part of the group.

“I like this department. We’re a little smaller, but at the same time, we’re growing, and everybody here is all driven toward the same purpose,” Ray said. “Everybody knows the community and I feel like the community loves us here. A lot of places are so big that firefighters are just in and out, but we try to help people more than just medical or fire or something and really get to know the people.”

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