As the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) rolls out this year, dozens of fire departments nationwide have begun using the new platform. The first live incident report was submitted in January by the Pierre Rural Volunteer Fire Department, an all-volunteer department serving areas outside the Pierre city limits.

Doug Hinkle, chief of the Pierre Rural Volunteer Fire Department, was an early tester of NERIS and entered the platform’s first incident: a potential wildland fire on a local farm - a burn of corn sacks that was intentionally set but unsupervised. Pierre Rural VFD has entered three incidents into NERIS so far this year, mostly related to wildland fires—common in the expansive farmland near Pierre.

“I’m the one entering our data in NERIS, but there are 23 other volunteers here working just as hard to protect the community. It’s a group effort all around—none of this happens without everyone doing their part.”

-Douglas Hinkle, Chief - Pierre Rural Volunteer Fire Department

“With wildland fires, it’s good to be able to add information like how many acres burned and the types of crops,” Hinkle said. “By entering that geographic information, we can actually map the fires out.”

Hinkle noted that another frequent call type involves auto accidents. He said NERIS’ multiple-incident reporting feature helps the department capture a fuller picture of each incident.

“Multiple-incident reporting more accurately describes what fire departments are responding to,” Hinkle said. “NFIRS would only track what you deem to be the most critical from one incident call. Being able to report on multiple incidents will be beneficial in the long run.”

Pierre Rural VFD will continue logging incidents into NERIS after transitioning from the legacy system, National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). For departments preparing to make the switch, Hinkle advises taking advantage of NERIS’ user-friendly interface by ensuring all inputted data is accurate.

“Make sure you have valid, correct data,” he said. “NFIRS was an issue because when someone didn’t understand the system, they might just be checking boxes to get reports complete. That inaccurate data didn’t help the end result. Try to get as many people reporting as possible because the more data, the more accurate it gets, the better the reports you will pull out will be.”