CAL FIRE Transitions to NERIS Platform for Emergency Incident Data

The largest fire organization in California, CAL FIRE, has adopted the use of the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) to begin collecting fire department response data.

With over 1,200 fire stations in California, nearly 800 of them include CAL FIRE members, from their own stations to communities where they contract fire protection, making them the largest fire organization in the country.

“With our complex system, we wanted to make sure that we could be in the driver’s seat and be involved in those discussions to not only make sure that NERIS was going to collect what aligned with what we wanted,” Mike Morlan, CAL FIRE Deputy Chief of California Incident Data and Statistics told Firehouse.com. “We wanted to make sure we were on board early so that we could get everything configured because we knew it was going to be such a big task for us.”

With all fire departments in the state reporting to the California State Fire Marshal’s office, which is part of CAL FIRE, Morlan said they’re working to get all departments plugged in.

“We oversee incident reporting for all departments and so we're making sure that all the other departments out there are ready for NERIS as well,” he said.

What is NERIS?

NERIS was created to replace a nearly 40-year-old data collection system for the U.S. fire service. There is no cost for fire, rescue and EMS agencies and it allows for response data input, GIS-based reporting and creates actionable dashboards for risk and operational asessements.

As of November, over 17,000 departments were at some level of discussion or implementation with NERIS and fire departments in 48 states being on board.

“The complexity of the NERIS project can’t be understated,” Tom Jenkins, research program manager with UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute told Firehouse.com. “While all states have varying levels of complexity and needs regarding emergency incident data, the risk profile of California and the unique character of CAL Fire made this effort a real collaboration.”

Morlan believes most departments will opt to use the NERIS app or integrate their existing records management system where reporting to both their platform and NERIS can be done in one program, saving valuable time.

Morlan sits on the NERIS Technical Advisory Panel, which allowed him to have a say in the process while representing hundreds of California reporting locations.

He praised the collaboration between the UL FSRI team and the U.S. Fire Administration for having open discussions and truly listening to what they fire service needs from NERIS.

"NERIS was designed to understand the fire service’s contribution, tactics, and risk as it relates to wildfires, wildland urban interface and the various built environments that dot these areas," Jenkins said. "Understanding deployment, risk and responses for these types of incidents will give us valuable insight to improve things in the future."

From NFIRS to NERIS

Morlan said the transition from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) to NERIS is monumental and brings a renewed focus on the importance of proper fire service data.

He said NFIRS had nearly 800 possible fields for data collection while NERIS has less than 300, depending on the complexity of the incident but said it’s more about the data to really matter to today’s fire departments.

“This is continuing how we can document the national fire problem and with the modernization that's going to be happen with NERIS,” Morland said. “Get involved and make sure you're telling your story because it's important for all of us, not just for the large departments.”

The modernization and the easy-to-read dashboards will change how fire service data is collected, he said.

“You’ve heard that saying that ‘garbage in is garbage out’ and that’s what NERIS is trying to clean up.”

CAL FIRE's NERIS progression

While they are already collecting data on NERIS throughout CAL FIRE, all stations will begin reporting Jan. 1, 2026 as each facility is trained and brought online.

Morlan said his team, along with NERIS developers and those involved with CAL Fire’s Records Management system are still tweaking system before the launch to ensure everything is working seamlessly.

He expects that by July of 2026, CAL FIRE will actively be using the newly collected data to spot new trends or areas that need to be addressed and bring the entire state into a dashboard that can quickly show trends or areas of concern.

“We're going to see it faster and we're going to be able to get the data better.”

Morlan said that NERIS can be used in tandem with California’s Integrated Reporting of Wildfire Information (IRWIN), a comprehensive data exchange for wildfire informaton across the state.

They will assess the root causes of fires, such as finding areas were cooking fires are common and target prevention efforts there.

They can also see where areas of population growth are seeing a rising call volume, and they now have data for the discussion to add a new station and crews to protect that area.

“I don’t believe that many firefighters across the country appreciate the size and scope of CAL FIRE and the multitude of resources and response arrangements,’ Jenkins added. “Being able to take care of CAL FIRE means that we will be able to tackle the needs and requirements of other complex entities within the state and beyond.”

Overall cost to implement

There was no cost to implement NERIS across CAL FIRE because the system is free, Morland said.

“The big part is getting the department educated, the people who are entering the reports…on the importance of how that data is used,” said Morland. “A lot of people just don't know what they don’t know and we will overcome that.”

He said training focused on why using NERIS was important locally and nationally and why correct data entry is so critical. They focus on the ability to show the need for funding and staffing.

“The move to NERIS represents the end of one era and the beginning of another and we're going to be taking decades of lessons learned from the first site and building a foundation for the future so that's where I'm kind of excited about it,” Morland said. “It is going to be accurate and timely and connected data that is going to drive decisions and hopefully an ultimately right save lives and that's what we're trying to do with NERIS.”

Fire departments can get signed up for NERIS here.