National Fire Incident Reporting System

The Division of Fire Safety is assigned by Missouri statute program management of the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) for the state. Currently, about 500 fire departments in the state report in the system, which represents 57 percent of Missouri fire departments.

The U.S. 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 is submitted through the Internet. USFA offers NFIRS 5.0 data entry software or online Web- based reporting at no cost at the state and local levels. 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 website at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/index.html.

Fire departments using the USFA software enter data directly to the USFA server. Departments using vendor software have the option of forwarding the data file by e-mail to the state program manager, or by using the NFIRS Bulk Import Utility as described below.

Web-based Fire Incident Reporting

To use the Web-based reporting tool, go to https://www.usfa.fema.gov/index.html and select Web-Based Tools from the green tool bar, then select Report Incident (DEBI).  Directions and prompts on how to use the incident reporting system are provided.

NFIRS 5.0 Reporting Software and Utilities

USFA has recently released the NFIRS 5.0, version 5.9.6 level of the Incident Reporting System. It is very important to always upgrade as soon as possible after new releases of the software are made available. Some upgrade release versions include minor updates that are not critical to the operation of the software, while others are more involved and are required to be implemented before any new data can be entered.

The volume of reports generated nationwide requires USFA to constantly monitor its reporting system and continually work to stay abreast of ongoing changes in technology. USFA works diligently to make its reporting system as user-friendly as possible, and attempts to implement many user suggestions.

Bulk Import Utility (BIU)

The Bulk Import Utility (BIU) 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. The BIU can be found at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/index.html under the Web-based Tools section.

Summary Output Reports Tool

The NFIRS 5.0 Web-based reports has been upgraded to utilize actuate information delivery technology to provide registered users access to summary and statistical information from fire departments via 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 USFA software. The user will need an active NFIRS 5.0 User Account with the specific reporting permissions assigned. The system defines report types for the user, with flexibility to change filter parameters as desired.

Reporting Guidelines

USFA has requested that all users of the NFIRS 5.0 system meet the following guidelines for submission of incident data:

• States submit data to USFA on a quarterly basis.
• Fire departments submit data to state NFIRS program offices on a monthly basis. If the department utilizes the NFIRS Data Entry Tool (DET) 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

This website contains information on current news about NFIRS, reporting guidelines, hardware requirements, web-based tools, user section (used for registration and downloading of NFIRS software), vendor section, and links to other related sites.

Hardware/Software Requirements

Minimum hardware requirements:
200 MHz Pentium
64 MB RAM
Windows 98, Windows 2000, XP or NT, Window 7, Windows 8 or Vista [Microsoft Access 97, 2000 or 2002 - if using NFIRS 5.0 in off-line mode]
55 MB available hard disk space
800x600 resolution monitor

Recommended hardware requirements:
700 MHz Pentium or better
512 MB RAM
Windows 2000, XP, 7, 8, Vista
500 MB available hard disk space
56K (V.90) bps modem

Commercial software applications will require TCP/IP internet connectivity.

NFIRS Assistance

The Division provides NFIRS assistance to users with inactive or locked user accounts.  The NFIRS system requires users to login at least once every 45 days in order to maintain an active user account status. If an account shows more than 45 days of inactivity the account is flagged as inactive and must be reactivated by the NFIRS state program manager.

NFIRS also has implemented a security feature that results in a locked user account if there are three unsuccessful login attempts. Contact with the state program manager is required to reactivate or unlock an account.

2015 MO Statistics

Total Dollar Loss $1,137,228,082.00

For more statistics, email requests to mutualaid@dfs.dps.mo.gov.

Participation and Contact Information

NFIRS is continually fine tuning their product to meet the customer needs. Maintaining open lines of communication between the users, the state manager and the USFA staff strengthens the overall effectiveness of NFIRS.

The division thanks Missouri fire departments participating in and encouraging other fire departments to participate in the fire incident reporting system, using either NFIRS 5.0 or vendor software. Only with a high percentage of participation in the system can we ensure Missouri statistics are accurately represented as we continue to fight fire with facts.