NERIS - National Emergency Response Information System
Find information about Wisconsin's transition to NERIS.
General
Overview
This section provides information to help Wisconsin fire departments transition from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) to the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS). This page will help fire chiefs and other personnel prepare for the shift from NFIRS to NERIS.
What is 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.
When was NERIS implemented?
NERIS is being rolled out by region across the nation and Wisconsin fire departments will be brought onboard beginning December 2025. The full transition was completed by 2026.
Recommendations
For All Fire Departments
Email DSPSISNERIS@wisconsin.gov with the actual date your department transitions to submitting live data to NERIS. If possible, schedule the transition for the first day of a month. This will help ensure data continuity for your department. Once you start reporting to NERIS, you will stop reporting to NFIRS.
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, the DSPS Fire Prevention/Safety & Health program will not initially have 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 staff turnover). After you are onboarded to NERIS, you must send an "invite" to DSPSISNERIS@wisconsin.gov and your DSPS Fire Coordinator so that we have access to your department's profiles.
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 include 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 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.
DSPS recommends departments work with their local legal counsel on requirements for records retention. After January 31, 2026, your legacy data in NFIRS will not be available to you. States/Fire Departments will only have access to the NFIRS PDR (Public Data Release).
For Fire Departments Using a 3rd Party Data-Reporting Software
Departments 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.
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. For the most up to date list of vendors that have received their NERIS badge, visit the NERIS/FSRI webpage for Integration Partners. NFIRS software will not be compatible with NERIS, and on January 1, 2026, your NFIRS reporting will not carry over.
Departments should consult with their vendors about access to past NFIRS reports and historical NFIRS aggregate data after they transition to NERIS.
Quick Start Videos
NERIS General User Quick Start Video
NERIS Site Administrator Quick Start Video
Resources
NERIS Fact Sheet - A summary of the NERIS platform from the US Fire Administration and UL Fire Safety research Institute.
NFIRS Sunset Information - Key points and dates in the NFIRS sunset and transition to NERIS.
NERIS FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions on the NERIS website.
NERIS Resource Hub - All NERIS video and document resources.
Note: NERIS uses Multi-Factor Authentication to ensure data security, similar to NFIRS. 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 DSPS expects that it will be corrected by the time Wisconsin fire departments are being brought onboard.