Notice of NFIRS Specification Enforcement
To improve data quality and consistency, we now enforce several 2015 specification cycle rules previously not enforced by the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) validation process. Enforcement began with the October 2020 release of the U.S. Fire Administration's NFIRS applications.
Important points
- There are no specification or documentation changes for the upcoming NFIRS 5.0 specification cycle.
- We enforce the relational edits listed below to improve data quality and consistency.
- Critical errors and invalid status incidents will occur upon import to the NFIRS national database if the items described below are not addressed.
Need help?
Responses to online questions submitted to our Help Desk may be delayed.
Relational edits
Failure to follow the specification for the following relational edits will result in a critical error and an invalid incident status.
| Edit | Module | Block | Field | Relational edit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #30 | Basic | F | Action Taken | Cannot be duplicate, except for blanks. |
| #35 | Basic | H1 | Civilian Fire Casualty | If Incident Type > 100 series then Civilian Casualty Form is not available (allowed). |
| #59 | Fire | E3 | Human Factors | If Age Was Factor is checked then age must be greater than zero (0), and sex must be present. |
| #64 | Fire | H1 | Mobile Prop Involved | If None is checked, then no data entry is allowed. |
| #74 | Structure Fire | L1 | Presence of Detector | If Presence of Detectors is YES, then L2, L3, and L4 are required. If Presence of Detectors is left blank, then L2, L3 and L4 are not available (allowed). |
| #75 | Structure Fire | L4 | Detector Operation | If Detector Operation = 2, THEN L5 is required. If Detector Operation not = 2, THEN L5 Detector Effectiveness entry is not allowed. |
| #76 | Structure Fire | L4 | Detector Operation | If Detector Operation = 3, THEN L6 is required. If Detector Operation = 2, THEN L6 Detector Failure Reason is not allowed. |
| #79 | Structure Fire | M1 | Presence of Automatic Extinguishment Systems (AES) | If not present (code not = 1 or 2), then M2, M3, M4 and M5 are not available. |
| #81 | Structure Fire | M5 | AES Failure | If M3 = 1, then M5 is not available (allowed). |
| #105 | Hazmat | H | Hazmat Action Taken | Actions Taken 1, 2 or 3 cannot be duplicates. |
| #122 | EMS | H1 | Body Site and Injury Type | Each Body Site must have an Injury Type. Body Site may be repeated up to five times. Injury Type may be repeated; however, the Body Site and Injury Type combination may not be repeated. |
| #123 | EMS | I | Procedures Used | At least one procedure must be selected, but they are not mutually exclusive; except no treatment. |
| #151 | Arson | M2 | Age | If subject Age is greater than 17, then Arson Module blocks M1 through M8 (except for M2) are not allowed. |
Software-related items to verify
- Users must be able to upload fire department information data files separately from incident data files when importing data into the national database.
- Conversion-only codes for 4.1 data are not allowed. Using them will result in an invalid status for the incident.
Reminders
General
- A delete incident transaction type code (2) should be used only when an incident needs to be permanently removed from the NFIRS national database.
- To submit an update for an existing incident in the national database, the file can contain the change transaction type code (1), OR, the file can contain all incidents as “add” transactions (blank transaction type code), and the user uploading the file can select “Overwrite Existing Incidents.” Many states and users prefer this and are accustomed to using the USFA Bulk Import Utility's overwrite existing incidents method.
- Codes in NFIRS fields that are not in the NFIRS data dictionary (national length codes sets) will fail import when uploaded to the national database. This includes codes for yes/no flag fields (for example, the Resource Forms Used acceptable values are Y, N or blank only).
Record format
- Mutual Aid Assisted FDID and Incident Number records (1020 record): transmit only when Aid Type is code 3 or 4 (aid given). The Assisted FD's Incident Number field is maximum length 7 (this has always been the specification for Incident Number).
- An incident should contain a single Remarks record (1040) and not contain excessive or repetitive text.
- Incidents that include Apparatus (1810) records must contain at least one parent transaction (1800). Child records must have an associated parent record present.
- Data files should not contain records without data, such as empty Arson Module (1900) records.
Field level
- The Street Type must be from the data dictionary contained within the NFIRS Design Documentation. Other entries will fail validation. The available codes will be reviewed for a future specification change cycle.
- The Fire Module's Acres Burned field (1100 record) is numeric only and not a decimal value.
- The Basic Module's Entity Involved field (1050 record) Business Name maximum field length is 25. This field length will be reviewed in a future specification change cycle.
- The Personnel Module's Rank field (1810 record) maximum length is 10. This field length will be reviewed in a future specification change cycle.
- Telephone Numbers must be 10-digit numeric. Don't use parenthesis or dash characters.
- ZIP code length is 5 or 9 number, no dashes.
- A Special Study Code must be present if the Special Study ID is present.