National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS) Policy Manual PDF

Policy 329 Chesapeake Fire Department Policy Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/29, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS) - 1 National Fire Incident Re...

Policy 329 Chesapeake Fire Department Policy Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/29, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS) - 1 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS) 329.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 authorizes the National Fire Data Center in the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to gather and analyze information on the magnitude of the nation's fire problem, as well as its detailed characteristics and trends. To do so, the National Fire Data Center has established the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Virginia releases data that it collects in the Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS) to NFIRS for inclusion in the national database. The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance regarding NFIRS and VFIRS reporting to ensure department response information is properly reported. 329.2 POLICY The Chesapeake Fire Department is committed to improving fire reporting and analysis capability both locally and on the national level. Therefore, it is the policy of the Chesapeake Fire Department to participate in VFIRS. 329.3 RESPONSIBILITIES The Deputy Fire Chief and/or designee shall designate a VFIRS coordinator who is responsible for developing and maintaining familiarity with NFIRS and VFIRS resources and reporting requirements, ensure department information is compliant with the NFIRS and VFIRS reporting format and that the information is forwarded to the VFIRS on a monthly basis. All responses must be fully documented and reviewed in the Fire Records Management System daily. The report status of all reports must be “Verified”. The Company Officer is ultimately responsible for ensuring incidents are entered for Engine Company responses and Medic unit responses on single unit EMS responses in a timely manner after the response. Incident entries should not exceed 12hours after the response without approval from the Company officer. All reports shall be submitted and verified before the end of the shift or going off duty. If the report is delayed beyond the end of shift, the Battalion Chief must be notified and email the VFIRS coordinator if there is a technical issue with the report. The Station Officer is responsible for all reviews and approvals for units assigned to their Station/ Shift. All approvals must be complete and marked as such by the seventh of the month. Chesapeake Fire Department Policy Manual National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS) Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2023/03/29, All Rights Reserved.Published with permission by Chesapeake Fire Department National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS) - 2 The USFA has developed a standard NFIRS package that includes incident and casualty forms, a coding structure for data processing, manuals, computer software and procedures, documentation and a National Fire Academy training course for utilizing the system.