Volunteer Fire Service Roundtable-Central Region #2

Submitting Fire Report Data in Ohio

The Ohio Fire Incident Reporting System (OFIRS) is capable of receiving fire report data electronically via Web Upload. Because of the complex nature and high volume of data handled by the system, it is necessary to adopt the following standards for the submission of electronically generated fire report data. All data submitted to OFIRS will be uploaded to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).

Software

The following are requirements to submit fire data to the Ohio Fire Incident Reporting System electronically and comply with ORC 3737.24

• The codes for recording data must be identicalto the United States Fire Administration’s (USFA) National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).
• The NFIRS software program must be from a vendor that has been classified “Active” by the USFA and approved by the State Fire Marshal.  For more information about approved vendors, contact our office.
• The program must have standard NFIRS error checking capability.

Procedures

• Data shall be submitted no more than thirty-one (31) days after each incident.
• Before exporting the data, run an error checking and/or audit program and correct any errors. Data that does not meet NFIRS/OFIRS standards will be rejected and returned.
• Follow the instructions for your software when creating a file to upload to the OFIRS database. The data export feature of NFIRS software will automatically create files for upload to the state.
• It is very important to name your file correctly when submitting data: FDIDMOYR.TXT (For example: txtwould be the reports for March 2022 for a department with an FDID number of 45555). Fire departments Must include their FDID in the name of their file and the file extension .txt.

Reporting Incidents on OFIRS Portal

After you have created your incident file through your reporting software, go to: https://sfmengage.com.ohio.gov/

• Your “User ID” will be your registered email in OHID portal.
• You password will be the one you set up during the security question process.
• Enter your contact name and e-mail address.

To file NFIRS/OFIRS reports using the OFIRS Web Upload on the internet: [Option #1]

• Click on Upload Fire Report Data.
• Click on Select. Locate the file you created in your reporting software.
• Highlight the file, click Openand then Upload File. You will see a green “Successful” message.
• We will notify the contact person of errors or rejected reports.
• Please notify the Fire Prevention Bureau by e-mail if you do not have any monthly reports to file at OFIRS@com.state.oh.us
• If you have issues resetting your password, please use the reset password link, or contact our office at the email above.

To file NFIRS reports using the Data Entry Browser Interface: [Option #2]

If you would like to use the free web based NFIRS data entry system, please click on this and then click on “create Incident’ button on your incident dashboard.  Please contact the Ohio Program Manager with your FDID and tell them you want DEBI activated on your account (888) 243-0305 or (614) 752-7103.