The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) is a system established by the National Fire Data Center of the
United States Fire Administration
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) is a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) located in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Emmitsburg. Per the official website, "the mission of the U.S. Fire Administra ...
(USFA), a division of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
. The System was established after the 1973
National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control The U.S. National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control was a Presidential Commission appointed by President Richard Nixon in June 1971. It submitted its final report, '' America Burning'', in May 1973.
Background
The Fire Research and Safety ...
report, ''
America Burning
''America Burning'' is a 1973 report written by the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control to evaluate fire loss in the United States and to make recommendation to reduce loss and increase safety of citizens and firefighting personnel. ...
'', led to passage of the
Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974
The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 was created in response to the 1973 National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control report, ''America Burning''. The report's authors estimated fires caused 12,000 deaths, 300,000 serious inj ...
(P.L. 93-498), which authorizes the USFA to gather and analyze information on the magnitude of the Nation's
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
problem, as well as its detailed characteristics and trends. The Act further authorizes the USFA to develop uniform
data reporting Data reporting is the process of collecting and submitting data which gives rise to accurate analyses of the facts on the ground; inaccurate data reporting can lead to vastly uninformed decision-making based on erroneous evidence. Different from da ...
methods, and to encourage and assist state agencies in developing and reporting data.
The NFIRS has two objectives: to help
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
and
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
s develop fire reporting and analysis capability for their own use, and to obtain data that can be used to more accurately assess and subsequently combat the fire problem at a national level. To meet these objectives, the USFA has developed a standard NFIRS package that includes incident and casualty forms, a coding structure for data processing purposes, manuals, computer software and procedures, documentation and a
National Fire Academy
The National Fire Academy (NFA) is one of two schools in the United States operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Operated and governed by the Unit ...
training course for utilizing the system.
The NFIRS reporting format is based on the
National Fire Protection Association
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...
Standard 901, "Uniform Coding for Fire Protection" (1976 version), the 1981 codes for Fire Service Casualty Reporting, and the 1990 codes for Hazardous Materials Reporting. The version of NFIRS current as of June, 2006, version 5.0, was released in January, 1999. NFIRS 5.0 expands the collection of data beyond fires to include the full range of
fire department
A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
activity on a national scale. It is a true all-incident reporting system.
Within the NFIRS states, participating local fire departments fill out the Incident and Casualty reports as fires occur. They forward the completed incidents via paper forms, computer media or the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
to their state office where the data is validated and consolidated into a single computerized
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
. Feedback reports are generated and forwarded to the participating fire departments. Periodically, computer media containing the aggregated statewide data is sent to the National Fire Data Center at the USFA to be included in the National Database. This database is used to answer questions about the nature and causes of
injuries
An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or ...
,
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
s, and
property loss resulting from fires. The information is disseminated through a variety of means to states and other organizations. The National Fire Incident Reporting System is a model of successful Federal, State and local partnership. The database constitutes the world's largest, national, annual collection of incident information.
The success of NFIRS is due in part to the unique cooperative effort between USFA and the
National Fire Information Council (NFIC). NFIC plays a vital role in the USFA's efforts to achieve an accurate nationwide analysis of the fire problem through support to NFIRS and its participating member states and metropolitan fire departments. NFIC's unique partnership of Federal, state and local participants has proven to be one of the most successful, productive and cost-beneficial programs ever attempted on a national level.
Facts About NFIRS
* The NFIRS represents the world's largest, national, annual database of fire incident information.
* State participation in NFIRS is voluntary.
* 50 states and the District of Columbia report NFIRS data.
* 37 fire departments having a protected population of over 500,000 participate in NFIRS.
* Nationally over 23,000 fire departments report in the NFIRS each year.
* Participating departments report an average of twenty-three million incidents each year.
* Participating departments report an average of one million fires each year.
* The NFIRS database comprises roughly 75% of all reported fires that occur annually.
References
External links
USFA NFIRS websiteNFIC website''This article incorporates text from www.usfa.fema.gov, a
U.S. Government website in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
.''
{{Fire fighting
Incident Reporting System