Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS)
The Virginia Department of Fire Programs (VDFP) manages the reporting of incidents to the Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System (VFIRS). VFIRS is the statewide system for tracking all emergency responses with fire departments in Virginia. Any time fire department resources (personnel/apparatus) leave the station to respond to an incident, then the call should be reported. By reporting their incidents to VFIRS, fire departments document the details of their incidents for legal purposes and also document the overall activity with their fire department. Once incidents are reported, then summary statistical reports can be produced for use at their fire department. By reporting their incidents, fire departments get credit for all of the emergency responses that they handle in their area and also help show the value of their public service to their community.
VFIRS is an all-type incident reporting system. Fire departments should be reporting all their emergency responses to VFIRS. All types of calls such as fires, EMS, rescue, hazmat, etc. should be reported to reflect all incidents being handled.
Participation in VFIRS is essential, since important decisions, such as decisions with grant funding, are made at the fire department, local, state and federal levels using the incident data reported to the system. Incident reports submitted to VFIRS are released to the national level to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). That information is available when making important decisions that may impact grant funding. When you apply for federal grants, the NFIRS database is reviewed. If there is no information available for your department, then they have no data to support a decision.
By using and analyzing the incident data, information on the frequency of call types, the causes of fires, the amount of loss from fires can easily be identified to help develop appropriate fire prevention plans, to essentially help “Fight Fires with Facts”.