By Doug Nelson, State Fire Marshal & Marcy Ost
State Fire Marshal’s August NERIS Update
The North Dakota State Fire Marshal’s Office continues to track federal updates as we prepare to transition the state’s fire service incident reporting to the new National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS). As the year pushes on, we’ll send updates via this blog, and on our website as further information becomes available.
Moving Out of NFIRS (old system)
The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) will be replaced by NERIS. This transition is scheduled to take place throughout 2025. After January 30, 2026, NFIRS data will no longer be editable or accessible. Our office is working to download all of our data going back to 1999.
We recommend that all fire departments/districts identify their records needs and determine how best to extract and store that data outside of NFIRS. This can be accomplished in multiple ways and our office can help guide you through this transition.
We have exported all incidents in NFIRS via excel spreadsheet (excluding narrative field entries) for our records. We can always sort and share this information with your department going back to 1999.
As We Transition to NERIS (new system)
The State Fire Marshal’s Office will still require fire departments to report fires as stated under North Dakota Century Codes 18-01-06 and 18-01-04. This means:
Departments must continue reporting within 30 days of an incident.
Reports must comply with USFA data collection requirements.
Our office will maintain access to statewide fire data and continue issuing monthly reports and the annual Fire Statistics Report.
Until your department transitions to NERIS, continue reporting in NFIRS.
Key Points to Remember:
North Dakota fire departments/districts will start 2025 reporting in NFIRS and transition midyear. A mass transition is scheduled for November 2025.
Questions and concerns about NERIS should be directed to their Help Desk (located on their website) or at NERIS@UL.ORG.
Please visit our website page here Reporting | North Dakota Fire Marshal for further information on how to prepare your fire department/district for the NERIS transition.
As soon as our office is notified, we will start working with you on the transition.
NFIRS is scheduled to be shut down on January 31st, 2026, so all departments should be reporting in the new NERIS system by December 31st, 2025 at the latest.
If your department uses third-party reporting software, please contact your vendor to ensure it supports the transition to NERIS.
For more details on the NERIS transition, please visit the United States Fire Administration’s website at National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS). As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding this or any other fire safety topic, please contact our office at infofm@nd.gov or (701)328-5555.