First, determine what your local or state records retention policy is and how your department is complying with it. Second, confirm whether your department is already maintaining incident records in a local records management system (RMS) or other storage solution as a system of record consistent with your records retention policy. 

If your department is already storing incident data in a local system consistent with your records retention policy, you should already have the incident data/NFIRS data your department needs. 

If your department is not already storing incident data in a local RMS or storage system consistent with your records retention policy, you will need to establish a storage location and begin exporting your data from eNFIRS for local storage and retention before the deadline. 

Note: Fire departments that use eNFIRS as their means to create/write incident reports and do not have a local RMS are most likely to be the ones that want their incident data exported out of eNFIRS

If a fire department has an RMS, you can import the exported incident data file into your RMS to read individual reports. 

As an alternative, the NFIRS Data Warehouse provides reports for all eNFIRS data for every fire department in the country. Those with an eNFIRS account can retrieve standard and custom reports containing incident-related information for their and others’ fire departments. The Data Warehouse is refreshed nightly. 

Fire departments may wish to use the Data Warehouse’s Excel Exports. These standardized reports contain non-personally identifiable information found in each incident, excluding incident remarks. Each report represents a different NFIRS module and can be joined outside of the Data Warehouse using the unique Incident ID. 

Additionally, standard reports can assist with fulfilling National Fire Academy pre-course assignments and obtaining information necessary for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant report. To quickly learn how to navigate the Data Warehouse, please review the “NFIRS Data Warehouse Reports Tool Local Fire Department User Quick Start Guide” or contact your state NFIRS program manager. 

No, the USFA will be unable to provide this data. However, anyone can access and use the NFIRS Public Data Release (PDR) data, which will continue to be made publicly available in the future. It contains all valid and no-activity incidents in the country that were released by the annual deadline. Additional instructions on how to use the NFIRS PDR and suggestions for conducting analysis are available. 

Today's firefighters do much more than fight fires. NERIS is their new tool for gathering, reporting, and analyzing all-hazards incident data that focuses on risk, deployment, and performance. 

NERIS was designed to provide fire service users with incident response data in near real-time, allowing them to make informed decisions that will enhance safety for firefighters, residents, and communities. As a flexible, scalable, interoperable tool that can adapt to reflect emerging issues, NERIS will integrate information from CAD systems, GIS, and other sources to provide detailed analytics anywhere, anytime, on smartphones, tablets, and desktops.

Departments currently using third-party reporting software should also select one or two additional NERIS leads/administrators. They will be important if you need to change your vendor, add or delete personnel, update your GIS boundaries, or update your department dashboard. 

These departments should also discuss NERIS compatibility with their vendors. Vendors that have successfully tested their Application Programming Interface (API) with NERIS will receive a NERIS Compatibility Badge. NFIRS software will not be compatible with NERIS, and on January 1, 2026, your NFIRS reporting will not carry over. 

These departments should consult with their vendors about access to past MFIRS reports and historical NFIRS aggregate data after they transition to NERIS.  

NERIS General User Quick Start Video

NERIS Site Administrator Quick Start Video

NERIS Logging an Incident

NERIS Logging an Incident with Multiple Incident Types