The Missouri Division of Fire Safety has implemented the National Fire
Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Currently there are almost 752 fire departments
reporting in our system, this represents 84% of the fire departments in Missouri.The
United States Fire Administration (USFA) has created NFIRS 5.0, an all-incident reporting
system, which has data collection and reporting capabilities that can be used at the
fire department, state and national levels.
In an effort to implement and efficiently maintain an incident reporting system
all data must be submitted via the internet. USFA offers, at no cost,
NFIRS 5.0 data entry software for the use at the state level and allows distribution to
reporting fire departments. Fire departments can also obtain compatible software
from an approved vendor, for a fee. A list of approved vendors can be obtained from
the USFA webstie at www.nfirs.fema.gov.
Fire departments using the USFA software enter data directly to the USFA
server, departments using vendor software have several options for forwarding their data;
e-mail the data file, mail in a diskette to the state program manager containing the data
file, or by using the NFIRS Bulk Import Tool. More information concerning the Bulk
Import Tool follows below.
NFIRS 5.0 Reporting Software
and Utilities
USFA has recently released the NFIRS 5.0, version 5.5 level of the Incident
Reporting System. It is very important to always upgrade as soon as
possible after new releases to the software are available. Some upgrade release
versions include minor updates that are not critical to the operation of the software and
others are more involved and are required to be implemented before any new data can be
entered.
The volume of reports generated nationwide requires the USFA to constantly monitor
their reporting system and continually work to stay abreast with ongoing changes in
technology. USFA also works diligently to make their reporting system as user
friendly as possible and tries to implement many ideas and suggestions made by their users
as feasible.
Bulk Import Utility
The Bulk Import Tool is an electronic interface utility which allows fire
departments using vendor software to submit their data directly to the USFA server.
The Division of Fire Safety highly encourages the use of this program. If your
department is interested in finding out more information please contact Jim McKenney at
573-526-5701.
Summary Output Reporting Utility
The NFIRS 5.0 web based reports utilize Actuate information delivery technology to provide
registered users access to summary and statistical information from fire departments and
incident data saved to the national database. Report executables are predefined
according to NFIRS 5.0 reporting requirements established by the USFA and do not require
the use of the USFA software. The user will need an active NFIRS 5.0 User Account
with the specific reporting permissions assigned. Users who do not have an active
account status or who do not have the reporting permissions will need to contact Jim
McKenney at 573-526-5701. Sample reports are available on the NFIRS site.
Reporting Guidelines (effective January 1, 2004)
USFA has requested that all users of the NFIRS 5.0 system meet the following guidelines
for submission of incident data.
STATE submit data to USFA on a quarterly basis
FIRE DEPARTMENTS submit their data to state NFIRS program offices at monthly
intervals. If your department uses the NFIRS software and no runs were made during
the month, a report of "no activity" should be submitted to the state for the
reporting period.
NFIRS Website www.nfirs.fema.gov
This website contains information on current news about NFIRS, reporting guidelines,
hardware requirements, summary output reports tool (web based reporting tool), user
section (used for registration and downloading of NFIRS software), vendor section, and
links to other sites including, USFA, NFIC, FEMA, and NFIRS support center.
Hardware/Software
Requirements
Minimum hardware requirements are as follows:
200 MHz Pentium class
64 MB memory
20 MB available space on hard drive
56 K (V-90) bps modem or TCP/IP Internet Connectivity
Monitor with 800X600 resolution
Windows 95-B, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation or higher
Microsoft Access 97 - if using NFIRS 5.0 in off-line mode
The Division apologizes to the departments who will be unable to meet the technological
requirements of the new reporting system. We are currently researching other avenues
and will continue to work toward a goal of all Missouri fire departments participating in
this system.
NFIRS Assistance
The Division has established an NFIRS Assistance for those users with
INACTIVE or LOCKED user accounts. The NFIRS system requires users to login at least
once every 60 days in order to maintain an ACTIVE user account status. If an account
shows more than 60 days of inactivity the account is flagged INACTIVE and must be
reactivated by the NFIRS State Program Manager. NFIRS has implemented a security
feature that results in a LOCKED user account. If a user tries to login
unsuccessfully five times the user account will be LOCKED and the State Progam Manager
again is required to reset the account.
FAQ's
What happens when a fire department does not login in the required time, 60 days,
established by USFA?
The user account goes from active to inactive
status. The user must contact the State NFIRS Program Manager at 573-751-2930 to
have their user account reactivated. The user can prevent this by opening their
account every month.
Did you forget your password? What happens when a fire department has
five bad login attempts?
The account will be locked if someone tries to login more than five times and
fails. The user must contact the State NFIRS Program Manager at 573-751-2930 to have
the account reset.
When a fire department is involved in some type of community service (parade,
patrol) and personnel/equipment are being used, what code best reflects what they are
doing?
The code that best reflects the activity in this case is "533 -
Public service. Excludes service to governmental agencies (551 or 552)."
A fire department responds to a vehicle fire on the highway and then had a
couple of other fires down the road caused by the same vehicle as it drove further down
the highway. Is that an exposure to the first fire or separate fires/incidents?
The additional fires should be classified as exposure fires.
An apparatus arrives at the scene but is cancelled before personnel exit the
vehicle. How should this be coded?
The indicent should be coded as a, "611 - Dispatched and
cancelled en-route. Incident cleared or cancelled prior to arrival of the responding
unit."
How would the location of a moving vehicle fire be reported? Would it be
the location when first reported, the location when found by the first arriving unit or
the location where it stops?
The location documented should be the location where the vehicle stopped.
How should an uncontained trash fire in a structure that only burns the trash
be coded?
The appropriate Incident Type in this case would be, "118 -
Trash or rubbish fire in a structure, with no flame damage to structure or it's
contents."
How would an incident involving smoke from a chimney misidentified as a hostile fire be
reported?
The appropriate Incident Type in this case would be, "651 -
Smoke scare, odor of smoke, not steam."
A fire department was called to a pipe bomb in a mailbox incident. The
department did not remove or disarm the explosive, but called the police. How should
this be coded?
The appropriate Incident Type in this case would be, "552 -
Police matter. Includes, incident where fire department is called to a scene that
should be handled by the police."
Summary Reports
The following reports are summary and statistical data for
the state of Missouri
2007 - Summary
2008 - Summary
Property
Property
Detail
Detail
2009 - Summary
Property
Detail
Conclusion
NFIRS is continually fine tuning their product to meet the
needs of their customers. Maintaining open lines of communication between the users,
the state manager and the USFA staff allows for the elimination of shortfalls and broaden
the overall effectiveness of NFIRS.
The Division would like to thank those departments who are actively
participating and encourage other fire departments to participate in the fire incident
reporting system, using either NFIRS 5.0 or vendor software. Only through high
levels of participation in the system can we insure Missouri statistics are adequately
represented nationally as we continue to fight fire with facts.
2/2/2010
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