Does the USFA supply test data?
No, Vendors must create their own test data.

How do I check edits?
Vendors must use the Design Documentation and related documentation posted on the Design Documentation web page to design their software and check relational edits. Registered Vendors may download the Vendor Validation Tool version 4.07 to validate their flat files. For further information about the go to the Vendor Software Development Procedures page.

Some fire departments have data in the 4.1 format. Can they use a vendor's conversion utility to convert 4.1 data to 5.0 format?
4.1 Data converted with vendor software can be processed and stored at the fire department and state level only. For imports to the National Database, 4.1 data must be converted to 5.0 format with the USFA software. Fire Departments must follow their state's policy on converting 4.1 data.
Refer to the NFIRS 5.0 News Page for complete information.

How do I obtain a Vendor ID? How do I obtain a Software ID?
When a Vendor Registers on the NFIRS Vendor Registration Form and the registration is submitted, a page will be returned noting the Vendor ID. This Vendor ID is used to login to the Vendor site and this ID MUST be entered in the second record of the Transaction files.

For further information on Vendor and Software Identification, refer to the Design Documentation.

Does the file need to be comma delimited?
No. The first record in the file contains the delimiter that is used. Please see the description of the Flat File Transfer Format in the NFIRS 5.0 Design Documentation on the Design Documentation page.

Must fields be formatted to be adjustable or variable in length?
Each coded field in the system can expand 1 extra digit to accommodate the Plus One Codes. These fields have a fixed maximum size to handle the potential extra digit but will be always that size or one less which is the default National standard size for the field. They are not variable length in the traditional sense.

For example, the Property Use field will always be 3 characters in length unless the plus one code is used by the state or the department to categorize the entry at a more specific level, in which case it will be 4 characters in length. It can never be any length other than 3 or 4 characters.

Click here for additional information on Plus One codes.

Is the file required to be sorted by Incident Number or Record Type?
The file must be sorted by the NFIRS 5.0 header key fields. These include:

• FDID
• State
• Alarm Date
• Incident Number
• Exposure Number
• Record Type
• Transaction Type

See the description of the Flat File Transfer Format 1000 Record Type in the Design Documentation.

Should the clients only be submitting incidents one month at a time?
No, they can submit transactions as often as they like. They should, however, submit at least once a month.

If a Fire Department has had no incidents during the month, a 'No Activity' report should be submitted monthly.

How far back can clients go for reporting changes and deletes?
The USFA does not impose a limit on how far back one can post changes and deletes using the NFIRS 5.0 system; however, some states do. Vendors must take into consideration that clients will report according to their state's policy and that software must provide for them the capability to do so.

If a call is Action Taken = Cancelled Enroute, how should it be coded? Should it be handled like a stand-by incident? Should I just not run an audit on it at all and thereby not transmit it?
This situation should be coded as an Incident Type 611 - "Dispatched and cancelled enroute." These incident types should be transmitted just as all other incident types are transmitted.

If Mutual Aid was given, does the user only report the required information through G1 on the Basic Module? If so, do we have to include Apparatus Records Types (1800) if the Apparatus Used box is checked on the form or module?
Yes, if the incident reported as Mutual Aid Given, completion through G1 is all that is required and completion of the rest of the Basic and other modules is optional. Any modules completed optionally for Mutual Aid Given beyond the G1 block should be kept locally for department use only and not passed on via transaction file.

When is the Arson form required?
The Arson/Juvenile Firesetter Fire module is always optional; users are never required to complete it. When the proper conditions exist, the Arson Module becomes active and may be completed if desired. Otherwise, the module is not active and cannot be completed. The user cannot complete the Arson module if the fire was clearly not something arson-related or juvenile-firesetter related.

For the Arson Module to become available for the user to compete it, the conditions below must be in effect (Relational edit rule #148):

[The Arson Module] is active only if the Cause of Ignition field in the Fire Module is equal to 1,2,5, or U or if the Wildland Fire Cause is equal to 7. (If the Wildland Module is used instead of the Fire Module.) If the Fire Module's Cause of Ignition is equal to 2, then only Block A and Block M fields are allowed and active.

When validating the Fire Department Header transaction (Record Type 2000), the Validation Tool generates the message:
     Coded Field Invalid^Critical^Fire Department FIPS Code^
How do vendors resolve this error?
FIPs codes are state-specific. The Vendor Validation Tool does not validate state-specific information, therefore the error will be generated and exist when using the Vendor Validation Tool even if a three character, text entry exists in the FIPs Code field.

Is there a naming convention for the data files?
The suggested naming convention is: stateFDIDdate.txt (example: MD565650300). If the .txt file extension is not used, a conventional three character file extension is suggested.

Where do I find information on Plus One codes?
For complete information on the Plus One Code requirement for NFIRS 5.0 software, refer to page 128 under "Coded Fields" and "Multiple Choice Fields" in the flat file transfer format section of the Design Documentation (also see page 339).

In brief, Plus One codes allow for the optional addition of an extra coded value to the end of each coded field in the system. When checking the field sizes in the flat file layout and the edits, you will see descriptions similar to this example:

          38 Property Use      C       3 or 4

Note the "3 or 4" for the field size. This means that the department can report a field with 3 or 4 coded digits for Property Use. This allows many additional, more specific values to be defined by local departments or states for their own uses. When the 4 digit code comes to the USFA only the first 3 digits of the code are actually used for analysis. This essentially rolls the more specific codes back up into the higher level category for national use. As an example:

Property Use Code "419    1 or 2 Family Dwelling" might be further defined by State X in this way:

              419 "1 or 2 Family Dwelling"

                   4191 "Duplex"

                   4192 "Split level"

                   4193 "Rancher"

All of these are still "1 or 2 Family Dwellings" and will be aggregated as such nationally since we only look at the first 3 digits. Each state or local department can assign the "Plus One" code values and definitions differently so there is no way of using them nationally. This allows quite a bit of flexibility for states and departments while maintaining the National coding standard.

The USFA software allows states and local departments to create and define Plus One codes. Vendors' software should have this capability also since many 5.0 states plan to use statewide Plus One coding to capture additional information specific to their state. If the departments cannot set up, assign, and collect the additional Plus One codes, they may not be able to meet state reporting requirements.