Incident Reporting Transition to NEIRS

Chiefs,

The fire service nationwide is entering a historic modernization effort, the transition from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) to the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS). This marks the first major overhaul of our nation’s fire incident data system in more than 40 years.

For decades, NFIRS has served as the backbone of fire incident reporting, providing invaluable insight into response trends, prevention, and safety. However, with the evolution of technology, EMS integration, and new national data standards, NERIS will finally deliver the near-real-time, analytics-driven platform needed to support today’s fire service.

As of October 8, 2025, national NERIS onboarding continues to accelerate:

• 1,401 departments are now actively reporting to NERIS
  
• Over 205,000 incidents and 358,000 unit responses have been logged nationwide
  
• FEMA Region 9 (California, Nevada, Arizona) begins onboarding in November 2025

Here in California, the CalStats Program within CAL FIRE - Office of the State Fire Marshal continues to work closely with the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and FSRI/UL to guide departments through this transition.

• 31 departments statewide have been nominated as early adopters
• 6 departments are now actively reporting to NERIS in California 
  

In the last 30 days, we have added:

• Ventura County Fire Department
  
• City of Newman Fire Department
  
• San Diego Fire-Rescue Department
  
• Stanislaus County Fire Warden

As part of this national transition:

• NFIRS will officially retire on December 31, 2025
• Last day to report 2025 NFIRS data: January 15, 2026
• Last day to modify or edit 2025 NFIRS data: January 31, 2026

Once your department transitions to NERIS, you will no longer report to NFIRS.

While California’s transition window opens in November 2025, departments are encouraged to move thoughtfully. There is no immediate rush to switch, but all agencies must complete their transition by January 1, 2026.

The move to NERIS represents a transformational shift from static, legacy reporting to a dynamic, cloud-based system designed to integrate fire, EMS, and community risk data nationwide. It will strengthen the accuracy, timeliness, and interoperability of fire data across California and the nation.

Here are some resources and opportunities to stay connected -

NERIS Onboarding Portal: https://neris.fsri.org/onboarding

View national onboarding progress, readiness maps, and reporting dashboards.

CalStats Program Page: https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/resources/california-incident-data-and-statistics-program

Access California-specific onboarding resources, FAQs, and updates.

Final California NERIS Webinar – October 20 at 1:00 PM: Register Here

This webinar will bring together CAL FIRE, the NERIS development team, and RMS vendors supporting NERIS integration. Departments already reporting to NERIS will share early lessons learned, and the NERIS team will be available for Q&A as California prepares to onboard.

California continues to lead the nation in data modernization and innovation. Your participation and leadership will ensure a smooth and unified transition as we move from NFIRS to NERIS. While we have been working over the past year to educate NFIRS coordinators for the past couple years, we want to ensure this information has wide reach. Please share with your department’s leadership, data coordinators, and reporting staff.

Thanks,
 
Daniel Berlant
State Fire Marshal