This page provides information to help Illinois fire departments shift from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) to the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS).

The National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) is currently being rolled out by region across the nation, and Illinois fire departments will be brought onboard beginning in December 2025. This page will help fire chiefs and other personnel prepare for the shift from NFIRS to NERIS.

Today's firefighters do much more than fight fires. NERIS is their new tool for gathering, reporting, and analyzing all-hazards incident data that focuses on risk, deployment, and performance.

NERIS was designed to provide fire service users with incident response data in near real-time, allowing them to make informed decisions that will enhance safety for firefighters, residents, and communities. As a flexible, scalable, interoperable tool that can adapt to reflect emerging issues, NERIS will integrate information from CAD systems, GIS, and other sources to provide detailed analytics anywhere, anytime, on smartphones, tablets, and desktops. 

NERIS is already being rolled out regionally in the United States. Fire Departments in Illinois will come onboard beginning in December 2025. The full transition from NFIRS to NERIS is expected to be complete by December 31, 2025.

• Important: Please notify us when your department transitions to submitting live data to NERIS. Email Lindsey.A.Padget@illinois.gov with the actual date of the transition. If possible, please try to schedule that transition for the first day of a month. (This will help ensure data continuity for your department.)
• All chiefs should select one or two additional department members to act as NERIS administrators, including a lead who will oversee NERIS onboarding and implementation. Unlike NFIRS, NERIS will not grant OSFM direct access to departments' profiles, so it's important to have at least one non-chief department member on the NERIS team for continuity of operations (in the event of retirements, etc). 
• Gather demographic information related to your department, including:
  • Basic information such as phone number, headquarters address, population currently protected, shift information, staffing levels, PSAP information, Automatic Vehicle Location usage, and dispatch protocols;
  • Geographic service boundaries such as first-due boundaries and districts within a department's service area;
  • Unit and apparatus inventory, including apparatus types
  • Services your department provides, including fire suppression, EMS, fire investigation, Hazmat response, technical rescue, etc.
  • Interdepartmental relationships, including mutual, automatic, and contract aid, as well as specific services if applicable
• Decide if you want to share dispatch data with NERIS. If you use Computer Aided Dispatch, ask your vendor if they have built a NERIS-compatible API and when it will be ready to start submitting data. Remember that you may have to work with another department/agency if dispatch doesn't report directly to your fire department.
• The OSFM recommends departments work with their local legal counsel on requirements for records retention.   

• Departments currently using third-party reporting software should also select one or two additional NERIS leads/administrators. They will be important if you need to change your vendor, add or delete personnel, update your GIS boundaries, or update your department dashboard.
• These departments should also discuss NERIS compatibility with their vendors. Vendors that have successfully tested their Application Programming Interface (API) with NERIS will receive a NERIS Compatibility Badge. NFIRS software will not be compatible with NERIS, and on January 1, 2026, your NFIRS reporting will not carry over!
• These departments should consult with their vendors about access to past NFIRS reports and historical NFIRS aggregate data after they transition to NERIS. 

OSFM will update this section periodically as we become aware of bugs and fixes.

• NERIS uses Multi-Factor Authentication to ensure data security. This will require users to enter a time-limited access code emailed to them during login. Users on a small number of email platforms have reported that these emails arrive after the time limit expires. The NERIS team is working on this issue, and OSFM expects that it will be corrected by the time Illinois fire departments are being brought onboard.

NERIS Status Update: A PowerPoint presentation from the US Fire Administration on the latest developments in the ongoing transition to NERIS

NERIS Educational Briefing: A PowerPoint presentation that gives an overview of the National Emergency Response Information System, its key features, and the onboarding process

NERIS 2025 Rollout: What You Need to Know: A two-sided info sheet on the National Emergency Response Information System's 2025 rollout process

NERIS Fact Sheet: A summary of the NERIS platform from the US Fire Administration and UL Fire Safety research Institute

Preparing for NERIS Onboarding: A checklist to help chiefs prepare for NERIS onboarding and implementation later this year

NERIS Rollout in 2025: A summary of the NERIS nationwide rollout and implementation

NERIS Briefing Slide Deck: A PowerPoint presentation that defines what NERIS will do, how it will benefit local departments and their communities, the rollout process, and the improvements it offers over NFI

Lindsey Padget

Email: Lindsey.A.Padget@illinois.gov

Phone: 217-670-4300