FireWorks NFIRS BI User Manual Last Updated: March 2018
Introduction FireWorks Business Intelligence BI and analytics tool is used to analyze NFIRS (National Fire Incident Reporting System) data in an intelligent and graphical way. Departments or counties import their past NFIRS files using the very simple web interface, and multiple NFPA 1710, CFAI Accreditation and ISO audit reports are available at the click of a button. Dynamic graphs and maps shed light on incident trends and important incident statistics that were never available before. Performance measures of incident response time are available according to stations and shifts. 1. Create Account The first step to using the BI tool is setting up an account for your fire department. Click here to go to the sign up and registration page The initial setup requires filling in: Contact Info- Department s state, FDID, name and contact info. Account Info- Email and Password that will be used to log in to the department s account in the future, and department logo. Department Info Information pertaining to the department that will help with future reports. Stations- Addresses of department s stations. Once the station appears on the map, the station can be dragged in the case the location wasn t found through the address. ERF (Effective Response Force) Configurations- Min. Units and Personnel required for the different property uses. Dashboard Place to define which charts will appear on the dashboard. Subscription Info- Choose period of subscription. Price changes according to length of subscription. An email will be sent to the contact info 2 weeks before the subscription expires. If you have a coupon, click Refresh. The price should change accordingly. Payment Method- Choose payment method. All credit cards are accepted. 2. Import NFIRS Files and Incident Data The BI tool uses NFIRS 5.0 compatible files to create its reports and graphs. NFIRS 5.0 files are text files that can be exported from all modern fire department software vendors. To import multiple files: 1. Go to My Account by clicking on the department s logo on the top right of the screen. 2. Under the Upload Files tab click on the Add Files under the Upload NFIRS Files title. 3. Click on Add Files. Choose either NFIRS files in the.txt format or a single compressed.zip file containing the NFIRS files. 4. When done click on Upload Files. The upload process, on average, takes around 9 seconds for every 1000 incidents uploaded. In addition to the standard NFIRS files, other incident information not available in NFIRS files can be uploaded as well (for instance - apparatus enroute times). Choose the type of information to upload, and upload the information in the format as shown in the sample file. 2
3. Dashboard & Maps A visual and graph oriented view of the department s activities and data. Clicking on any of the charts expands the chart to a full screen and dynamic view. The main feature of the dashboard is the Incident Volume map. The map gives a bird s eye view of the department s incidents. To change the range of incident dates or filter for properties that had multiple incidents occur, click on the settings icon on the top right corner of the page. When done, click on setting to close the filter bar. Clicking on the markers to the right of the map, toggles which incidents are shown. The number on each marker shows the amount of incidents that occurred at that address. Clicking on a green incident marker opens all the incidents that occurred at that location. Clicking on Incident Report opens a detailed report of the incident. 3
Additional maps available from the left side bar are the Incidents Response Map which shows the incidents color coded according to response time, and the Incidents Heat Map which helps locate incident hotspots. 4. Charts Visual and dynamic graphs and charts of incident times and trends. 4
4.1 Choosing a Chart On the menu to the left of the screen, click on the pie chart icon to choose from the list of available charts. 4.2 Using a Chart Each chart in the BI is made up of three different drill down levels of data: Level 2 Level 1 Level 3 For Example, in the Incident by Type chart, in level 1, the incidents are split according to general incident type (fire, EMS, false alarm etc.). After clicking on a general type in level 1, fire for example, in level 2 we will see a pie chart of the different specific types of fire incidents (building fire, mobile fire etc.). After clicking on a specific incident type in level 2, building fires for example, we will see how many fire building incidents during the different days of the week. Clicking on a day of the week in level 3 opens up the list of incidents that made up that column in level 3 (see screenshot below). Every level can be expanded by clicking on the expand icon. Also, clicking on the help icon gives a short explanation of the report. 5
4.2.1 Exporting Charts from the BI In each level box, there are three perpendicular lines in the top right comer. Clicking on the lines opens up the export options for the report. 4.2.2 Chart Options Click on the settings icon on the top right of the page. This tool is used to help optimize the BI charts to meet the user s need. The search function, allows the user to search for specific details regarding the incidents that were used to create the chart. To change the date range, click in Filter on the ribbon. Choose the From date and To date. The charts and graphs can be filtered to include only specific incident types or specific stations. Chart Type: How the chart will be displayed visually: Columns, Bars, Pie or Pyramid (depending on the chart the options will change). Order By: How the information in the reports are sorted. Either by size or alphabetically. To change the date range, click in Filter on the ribbon. Choose the From date and To date. 6
5. ISO & NFPA Reports Choose the report icon on the menu to the left of the screen to open the report generator. Below is the list of all reports that can be exported and what they display. 5.1 NFPA FD Survey for US Fire Experience This report gives a print out of the Annual NFPA Survey for US Fire Experience. This survey is significant to NFPA s understanding of the U.S. Fire Experience, and the results enable the NFPA, USFA, and CPSC to develop national estimates for fire causes based on the annual National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) data. This report prints out the full survey (minus some fields that must be filled manually which are not available from NFIRS data). 7
Alternatively, the report can be printed out into its different sections from the built-in reports. The names of the reports are: 1) Major Fires: Lists all incidents that had 3 or more deaths and/or losses of $1 million or more during the past year. If there were no incidents of these types, the report will give the three incidents with the most deaths (if any), and three incidents with the largest losses. 2) Fires in Structures by Fixed Property Use: This report gives a summary of all fire incidents (NFIRS types 110-129), including number of fires, property loss and fatalities all according to Property Use. 8
3) Confined Fires in Structures: A sub-report based on what is reported in lines 5 and 13 of the "Fires in Structures by Fixed Property Use" report. Confined fires (e.g., cooking fires confined to cooking vessel, or chimney fire that did not spread beyond chimney, or confined trash fires) (Incident Types 113-118), and non-confined fires (Incident Types 110-112,120-123). 4) Breakdown of False Alarm Responses: A further breakdown on false alarm responses based on what is reported in line 21 of the "Fires in Structures by Fixed Property Use" report. 5) Intentionally Set Fires in Structures and Vehicles: This report gives a summary of fires that were intentionally set to structures and vehicles. Including number of fires, property loss and fatalities. 9
6) Fire Service Exposures and Injuries: Report on injuries sustained by firefighters during different types of duties according to severity and cause of injury. 10
5.2 Fire Incidents Full Assignment Response times of Unit Group per suppression incident. All apparatuses are taken into account in this report. Travel Time From Enroute Time of Apparatus to Arrival Time. (When there is no enroute time available, then the dispatch time is used instead) Travel Times are per Unit Group. Response Time- From Alarm Time to Arrival Time. Response times are per Incident. 11
5.3 Fire Incidents Response Times (Supp. Apparatuses Only) Response times of Unit Group (Apparatus Type Group) per suppression incident. Only apparatuses whose primary use was suppression during the incident are taken into account in this report. You can choose if you want the report to include all fire incidents or only building fires. Green: Achieved NFPA 1710 Response Time Goal Yellow: Did Not Achieve NFPA 1710 Response Time Goal 12
5.4 Fire Incidents by Apparatus Apparatuses that responded to suppression incidents and number of firefighters at incident. 5.5 Fire Incidents Times by Apparatus This report summarizes the response times of all vehicles that were present, and the number of personnel in each unit, for the incidents that occurred in the range of dates chosen. * If enroute times are not available, so the turnout time will be 0. 13
5.6 90th Percentile Response Times by App. Type Summary of apparatus response times for any given range of dates. When the report is chosen you will be asked to choose are a date range and which type of apparatuses (primary use of apparatus in the incident) you want the report to use. The report takes the 90th percentile incident and shows its travel time and response time. The average response time of all calls during the date range is shown as well. DP- Dispatch Time ER- Enroute Time AR- Arrival Time Turnout Time: The time from Dispatch time to Enroute time (If the enroute time is unavailable, then the dispatch time is used in its place). The time displayed is the 90th percentile of the apparatus. Travel Time: The time from Enroute to Arrival (If the enroute time is unavailable, then the dispatch time is used in its place). The time displayed is the 90th percentile of the apparatus. Response Time: The time from the Dispatch to Arrival. The time displayed is the 90th percentile of the apparatus. Average Response Time: The average response time for the different calls of the apparatus. 14
6. CFAI Accreditation Reports In the Report Generator screen, besides the NFPA1710 & ISO reports, the FireWorks BI Data Analytics also includes the reports required for CFAI Accreditation. 15
6.1 Breakdown by Incident Type Count of incidents by incident type for the date range given. 16
6.2 Staff Hours by Incident Type Sum of staff hours by incident type for the date range given. 17
6.3 Breakdown by Property Type Breakdown of the property types of the incident locations for the date range given. 18
6.4 Staff Hours by Property Type Sum of staff hours by incident property type for the date range given. 19
6.5 Response Summary by Station Distribution of incidents per station for the date range given. Includes the distribution of those incidents by fire incidents (NFIRS 100s), EMS incidents (NFIRS 300s) and all other incident types. The daily average of incidents per station is included as well. 6.6 Summary Loss by Station by Month Breakdown of property loss per station per month for the date range given. 20
6.7 Summary by Mutual Aid Summary of mutual aid incidents for the date range given. The first three rows give a summary of the amount of incidents that included any form of mutual aid and the breakdown by incident type (the first row reveals what percentage of incidents included mutual aid). The rows below give an even more detailed breakdown of the mutual aid incidents by detailing the amount of aid received and given. 6.8 Breakdown by Mutual Aid Breakdown of the number of mutual aid calls that occurred during the date range given. 21
6.9 Performance Summary by Station (90 Percentile) Summary of response times for each station's incidents for the date range given. The report takes into account all apparatuses that took part in the incident. The report breaks down the different response times by time of the incident and what percentage of those apparatuses reached its time goals. The report does not take into account the slowest 10% of response times when calculating what percent of apparatuses reached its goals. The zero value column displays the apparatuses where the times could not be calculated. 22
6.10 Calls per Year Breakdown of calls by year by station for the date range given. 6.11 Apparatus Unavailable Percentage of time each apparatus was unavailable for the date range given. 23
6.12 Simultaneous Incident Activity A simultaneous alarm occurs when an incident originates before a prior incident has terminated. This report quantifies simultaneous or overlapping incidents. The report is split into 8 excel sheets: 1) Cumulative percentage of all the incidents that were simultaneous - department wide. 2) Cumulative percentage of all the incidents that were simultaneous - per station. 3) Percentage of simultaneous incidents - department wide (the "times" column is the amount of times there was a simultaneous incident occurred). 4) Percentage of simultaneous incidents - per station (the "times" column is the amount of times a simultaneous incident occurred. 24
5) Number of incidents that make up the simultaneous incident count - per station. 6) Number of times that an incident was already ongoing when a new incident started - department wide. 7) Number of times that an incident was already ongoing when a new incident started - per station. 8) The median response time of the incidents that occurred when there were already incidents ongoing. 25
6.13 Alarms per Year by Incident Type Count of incidents by incident type per year for the date range given. 6.14 Fire Loss per Year Loss of life/property/area per year for the date range given. 26
6.15 Fire Loss by Property Type per Year Loss of life and property caused by fire incidents per year for the date range given. The report divides the incidents by property type and risk reduction factor (detectors/sprinklers present or not). 27
6.16 Incidents Count by Various Criteria per Year Distribution of incidents per year for the date range given. The excel exported includes different sheets with the distribution of those incidents by incident type, day of the week, hour of the day, month, shift, station, property type and by apparatus. 28
6.17 CFAI Accreditation Reports Besides the option of running each report individually, by choosing the report called "CFAI Accreditation Reports, which will generate most of reports in one Excel file, each in a separate spreadsheet. One excel file that includes the following reports: 1) Breakdown by Incident Type 2) Breakdown by Property Type 3) Staff Hours by Incident Type 4) Staff Hours by Property Type 5) Breakdown by Mutual Aid 6) Summary by Mutual Aid 7) Response Summary by Station 8) Summary Loss by Station by Month 9) Performance Summary by Station (90 Percentile) 10) Calls per Year 11) Apparatus Unavailable 29