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NFIRS → NERIS: what actually changed

NERIS replaced NFIRS as the federal fire incident reporting standard on February 1, 2026. If you knew NFIRS well, most of that knowledge still applies — but the parts that changed changed structurally, not cosmetically. Eight differences cover it.

There is no code-by-code crosswalk on this page, deliberately.We have not verified a mapping from NFIRS incident codes to NERIS types, and a mapping that looks right but is wrong produces a rejected — or worse, an accepted and incorrect — federal filing. Where an official crosswalk exists we link to it below rather than paraphrasing it.

  1. Flat forms → modules

    NFIRS was a set of forms with a fixed layout. NERIS is a core incident record with modules attached, and which modules exist depends on what the incident was. You no longer fill in the same shape of form for a lift assist and a working fire.

  2. Numeric codes → text hierarchies

    NFIRS types were numeric. NERIS types are a three-level text hierarchy — FIRE → STRUCTURE_FIRE → ROOM_AND_CONTENTS_FIRE — 128 of them across 7 categories. The complete searchable list is here. A memorised numeric vocabulary stops helping: some NFIRS codes split into several NERIS types and some collapse together, which is exactly why we do not publish a guessed mapping.

  3. One type per incident → several, one primary

    A vehicle into a pole with a patient and a wire down is not a choice between three codes any more.

  4. One narrative → two

    An impediment narrative and an outcome narrative, separately. What got in your way is now its own field rather than a sentence buried in a paragraph — which, aggregated nationally, is the point of the change.

  5. Casualty counts → casualty records

    Firefighter and non-firefighter casualties and rescues are separate modules with demographics and rescue type, part of every incident even when the answer is "nobody was hurt".

  6. Incident-level → unit-level response

    Each unit that responded has its own entry rather than being summarised on the incident.

  7. Weather and parcel data fill themselves in

    NERIS augments the incident from the location and time. Fields you used to look up are no longer yours to enter.

  8. File exports → an API

    NFIRS reporting mostly ended in an export to the state. NERIS is API-first, which is why "which vendor are you using" now has consequences, and why a department has to authorize a vendor before that vendor can file on its behalf.

What has not changed

  • You still have to write down what happened, and the report is still your professional record of the call.
  • The report is still due whether or not the shift was busy.
  • Getting the times right still matters more than getting the prose elegant.

If you want an official crosswalk

Start with the NERIS documentation itself, then check whether your own state has published one.

The migration question nobody asks until later: historical NFIRS data does not move into NERIS by filing new reports. If you need your old records, keep whatever export you already have. Nothing on this page, and nothing this product does, changes that.

The shortest path through the change

You do not have to learn the new type tree to file a correct report. Say what happened; the type gets picked, all three levels, and shown to you to correct.

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