St. Joseph earned 66.61 points out of a possible 105.5.

In all, up to 50 points are awarded for the fire department, 40 for the water supply, and another 10 (plus 5.5 for extra credit) for community risk reduction that takes into account fire prevention code adoption and enforcement, public fire safety education, and fire investigation.

The department received  26 points for its firefighting capabilities and 33.73 for its water system, plus 9.44 for emergency communications, and 3.92 points for community risk reduction.

Uridge said that they came close to earning a rating of 3. In Michigan only 205 departments have a rating of 4, 32 have earned a 3 and five have a 2. No departments in Michigan have a rating of 1.

Only one other fire department in Berrien County has a rating of 4, the highest in the county.

Deputy Safety Director Jeremy Connell, who oversees the firefighting operation, is confident that the city can reach the next level after the review that will take place in 2020. ISO had been reviewing departments every 10 years, but recently switched to a three-year rotation.