​​​​​​​​​​

NERIS 

Information and Updates 

​Please check back often. This is where any and all updates about NERIS will be posted.​​​​


  • PLEASE NOTE: 
  1. The​​re is a Mandatory changeover from NFIRS to NERIS. (Date of change has not been determined​ yet, but will be posted here. Until then, continue using the program you currently use.)
  2. Beginning January 1, 2025, all reports, regardless of incident type, ​must be online and valid. It is the responsibility of each department to verify the submission and validity status of their own reports each month. 
  3. Failure to submit 2024 reports and the Funding or Certification applications by January 31, 2025 will affect State funding and Federal grants, therefore, this applies to all department types!

How to Prepare Your Department for NERIS

  • ​NERIS - FIRE DEPARTMENT ONBOARDING PREP INSTRUCTIONS.pdf
    • ​Here is some clarification for some of the items listed on the document above:
      1. The FIRE CHIEF must appoint someone to be the NERIS lead person for your department and must write a letter giving authorization for that person to act on behalf of your department.
      3. To my knowledge, you can have as many users as you need, so make sure you make a list of who they are, with their personal email addresses, and phone numbers.
      4. PSAP means Public Safety Answering Point (or 911), AVL means Automatic Vehicle Location. Boundaries should be in pdf format.
      5. Here is a usable link to the Resource Typing Library Tool. Here is a usable link to the NERIS Data Dictionary​.
      7. Membership information example: John Smith is a member of Department A and is also a member of Department B. (This helps keep track of firefighters across the state.)
      ​
  • The document above was ​emailed to all fire departments. It is recommended that you start a file NOW, and gather COPIES of the information mentioned, so that when it's t​ime to onboard your department, you will be ready. Do NOT wait! Do it NOW! 
  • There is no need to email or call the office asking when your department will be onb​oarded​. Your department will be contacted when it is time to be onboarded into the new NERIS system. 
  • Please familiarize yourself with the resources provided in the links below. This information will facilitate a smoother onboarding experience. The User References page contains a "Sign in" button on the left-hand side. This will be your access point to the NERIS system following the acceptance of your formal invitation to join. Your department will be contacted at a later date with this invitation. 
  • Upon acceptance of the invitation, you will be able to log in using your provided credentials, in the meantime, please gather the relevant information as requested in the document above, and patiently await further instructions. We will post updates here as they become available.
  • ​Onboarding = plugging your department into the system. 
  • DO NOT SEND ANYTHING TO OUR OFFICE!​ HOLD ALL DOCUMENTATION!

​Update: 02/03/25
Webinars: 
NERIS in Action: Operational Usage and the Road Ahead February 18th, 2025 | 1pm-2pm ET. This webinar will be recorded. If you register for it but can't attend they will email you a link for the recorded version later. Register HERE​. 

If your department uses Image Trend you have the option to register for this webinar: The Countdown to NERIS: What's in Store for You? Wednesday, February 19, 2025 | 11:00am CT/12:00 noon ET. ​Register HERE. Anyone should be able to register for this, but be prepared for a possible sales call from Image Trend.​

​Update: 02/12/25
In our onboarding meeting yesterday, we learned that NERIS is building a WV Training Fire Department in the system. Once you get onboarded (plugged into the system) you will be able to go into the FAKE fire department and try it out. It is ONLY for you to test out how the program works so you can get familiar with it. You will still need to enter your reports into your own fire department when the system is up and running.

We are still waiting for the go-ahead from NERIS, so there is no date set yet for the training site, or the program. You will continue to use eNFIRS until further notice. ​

The onboarding is going to be a laborious process and will take some time. As long as you have already gathered the information into a file from the NERIS - FIRE DEPARTMENT ONBOARDING PREP INSTRUCTIONS.pdf, all you have to do is sit and wait for our office to contact you personally to get you into the training site. Do NOT send anything to our office. Just wait.

NERIS is currently working on producing training materials and tutorial videos for the program. As soon as they are ready they will be posted here. Be sure to share the link to this page with others in your department. This is ground zero for all information on NERIS since emails seem to be ineffective for one reason or another.​​

         Update 02/20/25
        Webinar:

          ​Update 02/24/25

​Update 03/24/25
  • Good news! NERIS will have a 4 hour window (versus 18 minutes with NFIRS) so you won't have to log in multiple times in a day!
  • ALL 2024 data must be entered into NFIRS prior to 03/30/25 to get ready for the NERIS transition and the public data release.​​

​Update 05/19/25
Folks are asking what they can do between now and when NERIS comes online. 

Until you have been contacted by our office or NERIS, you will continue to work in NFIRS.

The most important thing is keep entering your NFIRS reports; keep them as current as possible and VALID. There are several hundred invalid incidents in 2024 and 2025 for West Virginia. To check the status of your department's incident records, do a search for both years and click the Invalid button so it will only bring up invalid incidents. If you have any, please fix them asap. If you need help please call the office, that's what we are here for. 

Remember, when NFIRS goes down, it goes down for everyone, even the Feds, so when they pull each State's data at the end of 2025 in preparation for the sunset of NFIRS, if your incidents are still invalid, that could count against you when you apply for grants. 

Here is a link to a video showing how to enter an incident record: NERIS - Logging an Incident: Location Selection Tools on Vimeo, and this is the link to all 20 videos currently available from NERIS: NERIS Data.

Below are some QR Codes/Links to more information.

            InkedNERIS Onboarding Center and NFIRS Sunset Essentials_LI.jpg                                   
       
​​​Other than that, keep checking back here for updates. As soon as we know more it will be posted here.

Update 07/23/25

This is a list of NERIS-approved vendors. We can't recommend anyone to you. Please ask other Fire Chiefs who they are using and if they are satisfied with their product to get the best recommendation.

NERIS-APPROVED VENDORS as of 071625.jpg​

Update 08/20/25

Onboarding into WV NERIS (plugging you into the system) will begin on September 2, 2025. This is a firm date, barring technical difficulties.

​

​​What do I need to do to get ready for onboarding?

To prepare for onboarding, please gather all the information outlined in the NERIS - FIRE DEPARTMENT ONBOARDING PREP INSTRUCTIONS.pdf document. This document has been distributed and posted multiple times since December, so you should already have the necessary information assembled.

Our office/NERIS will contact you when it is your turn to onboard. We kindly ask for your patience, and request that you refrain from calling or emailing to inquire about your onboarding schedule, as you will be contacted directly when the time comes. 

​Once you have been onboarded, please review your department's information for accuracy. This especially includes verifying your first due map. If you discover an error, please contact NERIS for instructions and/or corrections.

​

Please note that reporting into WV NERIS will begin on December 1, 2025 for all departments. This will include logging all run records for all incident types, and applies to those departments using third-party software, as well.


Please ensure that all NFIRS reports have been entered/uploaded into the NFIRS system prior to onboarding. This will establish a clear cutoff point for that software. In other words, January through August will be entered into NFIRS, September through December will be entered into NERIS.​

Update 08/21/25


More information will be coming out as it becomes available. Our website (firemarshal.wv.gov) is ground zero for all things NERIS and NFIRS. 

Due to ongoing technicalities, I have opted for this method: 1st - Website (ground zero), 2nd - Email to fire department email address from funding applications (courtesy), 3rd - Slack app (courtesy). 

It is your responsibility to check the website often for updates, as the opportunity to connect by email and Slack may, at times, be unavailable due to technical difficulties. ​


###

​






eNFIRS (Continue using eNFIRS until you are contacted by our office.)

​
Update 08/21/25​

We're onboarding into NERIS, but what about NFIRS? 

NFIRS has been around for 50 years and now the entire country is switching over to NERIS. This is a critical time in our reporting history. It is extremely important that you follow the reporting schedule as follows and stay current and valid:

All reports from January 2025 through August 2025 must be entered exclusively into NFIRS. We kindly request that you begin entering these reports as soon as possible to ensure timely completion. Please have them entered into NFIRS prior to December 1st.

It is important that all reports are valid, as we have a very limited timeframe for corrections before NFIRS is completely shut down.

This change in reporting is a result of a mandatory system switch and is not related to your funding. Your cooperation with this transition schedule is greatly appreciated.

Once NERIS goes live there should only be September through December entered into NERIS.​

​

###





e​​NFIRS How-to-Videos
​
Getting Started
​​Accounts​
Data Entry
Fire Departments

Import incidents

​

​