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MEFIRS 5.0 Reporting Guidelines

As issued by the United States Fire Administration National Fire Data Center.

State Reporting Procedures

State Submission of Data

It is requested that all states submit data to the U.S. Fire Administration on a quarterly basis although the monthly submission of data is encouraged.

State Release of Data

After submission of data to the U.S. Fire Administration, states have not completed reporting until the submitted incidents are released. Reporting data to USFA consists of two steps:

• Submission of data to the U.S. Fire Administration
• Release of the state submitted data incidents

States submitting their data quarterly to the U.S. Fire Administration on physical media should include a data release letter, requesting the release of their submitted data into the public domain. Alternately, they may contact USFA either via email or by phone to request the release of their data. States may also release their software by using the tool to do so in the U.S. Fire Administration software.

Quarterly State Data Submission and Release Dates

• 1st Quarter: April 1st
• 2nd Quarter: July 1st
• 3rd Quarter: October 1st
• 4th Quarter: January 1st

Annual State Data Submission and Release Cutoff Date

States may revise, correct and resubmit data to the U.S. Fire Administration for the previous calendar data year until the annual data submission deadline on July 1st. After July 1 of each year, the USFA will compile and release into public domain the annual national NFIRS database for the previous calendar year.

Annual Data Submission Cutoff: July 1st

Fire Department Reporting Procedures

The U.S. Fire Administration recommends that fire departments submit their data to state NFIRS program administration at monthly intervals if possible. If no incidents were made during the month, a report of "no activity" should be submitted to the state for the reporting period.

For the purpose of local fire departments reporting to the Maine Fire Incident Reporting System (MEFIRS), departments are encouraged to submit their data monthly if possible. If however, circumstances prevent this timeline, data must be submitted within the quarter of the year as prescribed within the Quarterly State Data Submission and Release Dates as prescribed by the U.S. Fire Administration.

When submitting data to the Office of State Fire Marshal, MEFIRS State Administrator, local departments are encouraged to electronically submit their data via email. Using email submissions provides the opportunity for immediate communication on the validity and completeness of the data and guidance for corrections or modifications should any be necessary. If data submissions are unable to be submitted electronically, the local fire department should submit their data on a 3.5 inch floppy disk or CD ROM.

Local fire departments, exporting data to the Office of State Fire Marshal, should follow the guidelines associated with their respective reporting software in preparing their incident data export. When submitting the incident export of data, departments must assure that the preparation of their data export is submitted in the "NFIRS Export Type." Incident data exports should be sent via the appropriate method to the following:

Joseph E. Thomas
Asst. State Fire Marshal
MEFIRS State Administrator
52 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0052
207 626-3872
Joseph.E.Thomas@maine.gov

 

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