America’s fire service has officially entered a new era of incident reporting and risk analysis.
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has fully launched the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) — a modern, cloud-based platform designed to help fire departments better capture and use data for resource allocation, operational planning, and risk assessment.
As of February 1, 2026, NERIS is now the primary and only fire and all-hazards data system in the United States, replacing the long-running National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).
NFIRS was built on outdated code and struggled to keep pace with modern technology needs. One major limitation was that it was incompatible with tools like GIS mapping, making it harder for departments to collect, analyze, and apply reliable incident data in real time.
NERIS was built to solve those gaps, offering a more flexible system designed around how departments operate today — not how they operated decades ago.
“Today marks a watershed moment in fire service history. After 50 years of faithful service, the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) has officially shut down, making way for the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) to take its place as the national data system.” — Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, Former U.S. Fire Administrator; Homeland Security Today Editorial Board Member.
NERIS is intended to capture a broader picture of what fire departments actually respond to, including structure fires, hazardous materials incidents, and emergency medical calls, along with other public safety missions.
“What makes this new system great is that the data it captures is inclusive of all the things we do – from fires and HazMat incidents to emergency medical response,” Tom Jenkins of the UL Research Institute, a senior advisor on the NERIS development project and former career firefighter for over 26 years and Rogers, Arkansas, fire chief for 15 years before that said. “The data generated will help tell each department when they need to advocate for more resources, help determine where those resources will be best served, and will show where the true risks are.”
USFA began the transition in phases.
In November 2024, USFA launched NERIS Version 1 with 100 departments, which began entering incident data in January 2025. During the rollout, NERIS operated alongside NFIRS, giving developers time to test system performance as more agencies joined.
That overlap also allowed partners to evaluate how well NERIS could support reporting and analysis tied to emerging challenges, including lithium-ion battery incidents and wildland-urban interface fires.
Who built it
NERIS was developed by USFA in partnership with:
- the Fire Safety Research Institute (part of UL Research Institutes),
- DHS Science and Technology Directorate, and
- the broader fire service community.
“NERIS represents that future—a system designed for the complexities of modern emergency response, built to provide the insights our departments need to protect communities more effectively.” — Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell
With NFIRS now shut down, NERIS becomes the nationwide standard for collecting and using incident data — with the goal of giving departments better tools to understand risk, justify resources, and plan for what’s next. By replacing NFIRS, it aims to improve data accuracy, reporting speed, and coordination among agencies responding to fires, rescues, medical emergencies, and natural disasters.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)