National Fire Incident Reporting System

Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1 

For New Data Warehouse Users (Enterprise 

Data Warehouse Read-Only Permissions)

October 2023

Mission Statement

We support and strengthen fi re and emergency medical 

services and stakeholders to prepare for, prevent, mitigate 

and respond to all hazards.

Table of Contents i

Table of Contents

Part 1: Background.................................................................................................. 1

Introducing the NFIRS Data Warehouse reports .......................................................... 1

NFIRS Data Warehouse guides ........................................................................................ 2

Business Objects terminology......................................................................................... 2

General navigation............................................................................................................ 3

NFIRS Data Warehouse/Business Objects permissions (roles) and Groups Access 5

Groups Access and Released/Unreleased Status data ................................................ 6

Part 2: Login for New Users.................................................................................... 7

Log in to the NFIRS Data Warehouse — State and local NFIRS users ........................ 7

Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports .......................................... 9

Generating a report — Schedule versus View............................................................... 12

Prompts selections (pop-up)............................................................................................ 14

The NFIRS Group prompt................................................................................................. 20

Locating completed reports ............................................................................................ 21

Optional: Generating a report using View ..................................................................... 22

Viewing a report and exporting report results ............................................................. 22

Scheduling a report — receive or send via email ........................................................ 23

Check the status of a scheduled report......................................................................... 25

Deleting a report instance................................................................................................ 26

Rescheduling a completed report instance................................................................... 27

Optional: Personalizing your BO workspace ................................................................ 27

Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions, Errors and Troubleshooting ................... 31

Part 5: Frequently Requested Queries ................................................................. 36

Resources.................................................................................................................. 38

Contact Information ............................................................................................... 39

Acronyms.................................................................................................................. 40
ii National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1
Part 1: Background 1

Part 1: Background

Introducing the NFIRS Data Warehouse reports

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) Business Intelligence (BI) Team makes available the National Fire Incident 

Reporting System (NFIRS) Data Warehouse (DW) using the SAP Business Objects (BO)

application and FEMA’s Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) database and its Operational 

Data Store. The BO Web Intelligence querying and report writing capabilities provide 

users with robust and flexible report output. The NFIRS DW uses data from the 

NFIRS National Database submitted by fire departments (FDs) from 50 states and 

U.S. territories, the Department of Defense and the Native American Tribal Authority.

The NFIRS DW is used for output report capabilities only. Incident data cannot be 

edited in the NFIRS National Database via the BO report tools. The NFIRS DW is not a 

copy of the national database; it is a separate component. The data is refreshed once 

a day beginning at approximately midnight (Greenwich Mean Time), and the refresh 

takes about 4 hours to complete. It is recommended that users schedule them to run 

just after the nightly refresh period occurs.

More than 75 standard reports have been designed by the U.S. Fire Administration 

(USFA) NFIRS National Fire Data Center (NFDC) staff based on the needs and requests 

of NFIRS users with input from the National Fire Information Council. In addition to the 

standard reports available to all users, the BO Web Intelligence features enable users, 

with appropriate permissions, to save report queries and modify or customize them.

ĵ State users will have the ability to customize a report, save it to their state directory 

and make it available for their state’s NFIRS DW users. 

ĵ Users can schedule reports to run while the user is offline and retrieve the results 

later or by email.

ĵ All users have the option of adding a chart or graph on the results page, much like 

Microsoft Excel’s features.

ĵ Report results can be saved (exported) in PDF format, Microsoft Excel or as delimited 

comma-separated value (CSV) files. 

ĵ In addition, a standard Excel Export Report is designed to obtain many NFIRS 

incident fields for use in pivot tables while excluding unnecessary fields or fields 

containing personally identifiable information (PII). 

ĵ Quick filters feature assists in reducing the results within a completed report. The 

Drill tool enables users to review further detail of the report results and will be 

further developed for NFIRS-specific needs in the future.

The NFIRS EDW read-only level permission is all that is necessary for a user to run 

more than 75 standard reports and to access their state’s reports folder. State program 

managers can assign a user permission using the eNFIRS System Admin User Search 

function to locate the user account, then select the Edit Groups and Permissions link. 

It is recommended that all users begin with read-only permission. Users are encouraged 

to become proficient in the Reading mode using the Standard Reports before using 

the Design mode to create custom report queries.
2 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

NFIRS Data Warehouse guides

The guides are written for NFIRS users who have no BO experience and will assist 

NFIRS users to properly set up a work area within the NFIRS DW so they can generate 

and customize the NFIRS Standard Reports.

NFIRS Data Warehouse Guide 1 (for users with NFIRS EDW read-only permissions) 

assists NFIRS users new to the DW with basic steps to log in to the NFIRS DW, set up 

preferences and acquire a consistent workflow when scheduling and exporting NFIRS 

Standard Reports. It includes sections for troubleshooting and FAQs.

NFIRS Data Warehouse Guide 2 (for users with NFIRS EDW Access or EDW Admin

permissions) describes the advanced steps to create new queries and custom reports. 

Steps will include modifying a standard report in Web Intelligence format, creating 

a new report, sharing a report and saving a report to the State Folder where it can 

be accessed by FD-level users. The NFIRS EDW permission level Access or Admin is 

required for modifying and creating custom queries and reports.

The guides are organized with the approach that the user will follow the steps from 

start to finish and establish the workflow of the BO NFIRS DW. As users become familiar 

with the BO interface and the tools, the guides can serve as a reference.

Business Objects terminology

The terms displayed in the NFIRS DW interfaces and selection menus are specific to 

BO. The list below (in alphabetical order) will assist NFIRS users to identify features 

and functions while working in the NFIRS DW Reports.

ĵ Details — View the description of the report.

ĵ Export — Save the report to the computer as a file (Excel, PDF, HTML, TXT, CSV).

ĵ History — Show a list containing information about reports that have been run 

previously or are currently running.

ĵ Instance — A report that has been run (or a copy of the completed report).

ĵ Objects — In BO, the term “object” refers to a Dimension or Facts item for the 

query or report. Objects represent the fields in NFIRS modules and the national 

database.

ĵ Prompts — The parameters or filters for a report. The panel in which prompts 

are listed is named Prompts. On a completed report, the Parameters tab shows 

the filters that were used for the report.

ĵ Properties — View information about the report.

ĵ Quick Filtering — Applying filters to the results and not changing the underlying 

query or data.

ĵ Schedule — Run a report by placing it into a queue.

ĵ View — Open an existing report that you can refresh with the previous day’s data.

ĵ View Latest Instance — Call up the latest copy of a scheduled report that you ran 

previously. A single left click will also bring up the last instance.
Part 1: Background 3

ĵ Web Intelligence Document — A report. When a report is saved in the Web 

Intelligence format, the drill-down capability and drag-and-drop features enable 

further summary and analysis. The final output can be saved as PDF and other 

formats.

General navigation

ĵ The links in the ribbon navigate to: Home (the BO landing page), Favorites, Recent 

Documents, Recently Run reports and Applications (used only by users with 

Access or Admin permission). 

ĵ The tiles are links to: Folders, Categories (not used in NFIRS), Documents (reports 

that have been run), BI Inbox (where scheduled reports will be listed), Instances

and Recycle Bin. 

ĵ In the center of the banner, the BI Launch Pad is a drop-down that will list reports 

after running them (“Currently Open Documents”). The drop-down list replaces 

individual report tabs used in the previous BO version. 

ĵ To locate the Standard Reports, click on the Folders tile, then expand Public 

Folders > NFIRS > Standard Reports. 

ĵ Do not use the Back button of your web browser to navigate in BO; instead, use the 

arrow in the upper left of the screen to navigate to the previous screen, or select 

a link on the ribbon, such as the Home or Favorites tab or Recent Documents, 

or select a recently run report. 
4 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

ĵ Right-click on a report to access the actions menu. Most often, the actions menu will 

contain options for: View, Properties, Schedule, History and Details. The right-click 

on a specific feature of a report can alter the menu options.

Ý The option Modify is available only for users with EDW Access or Admin 

permissions.

Ý Users with read-only permissions will not see or use a Personal Folder. 

ĵ Completed reports are downloaded to the user’s PC by using the Export icon.

ĵ Use the View action to run a small report, or Schedule it if you are not sure of the 

data set’s size.

ĵ After scheduling a report to your BI Inbox, click the BI Inbox tile, then select the 

report in the left side of the Inbox screen, and click the View button in the far right 

to open the report. 

ĵ Once a report is open, additional report information and characteristics can be 

viewed by using the right-side pane to view the report’s Document Properties; 

General, Statistics, Document Options and Data Options.

ĵ In the middle of the main screen, the open reports (documents) are listed.
Part 1: Background 5

ĵ Use the circled X icon to close a report. Click OK to the warning that unsaved 

modifications will be lost. 

ĵ Use the back arrow in the upper left to return to the main options (displayed in 

tile shapes).

ĵ The Document Autosave and Recovery Alert, for users with NFIRS EDW Access or 

EDW Admin permissions, informs the user of the location of documents that are 

autosaved. Autosave occurs if an unsaved report is open at the time the session times 

out (20 minutes). The default location is the user’s Personal folder’s Web Intelligence

folder. Check the “Do Not Display this Message” box to eliminate the alert.

ĵ Users with NFIRS EDW read-only permissions must always export and download 

the report results. Users with Access and Admin permissions must use the “Save 

As” command and select the Personal Folder or the State Folder as the destination. 

Or, use the Export icon to download the report.

ĵ Never delete from the Public Folders (Standard Reports) and never save to the 

Public Folders.

NFIRS Data Warehouse/Business Objects permissions (roles) 

and Groups Access

State program managers can add the NFIRS EDW permission at any time to an existing 

user account. It is imperative that a user is assigned to the FD group or county level to 

which they report. This restricts access to PII in incident reports of other departments. 

Only 1 of the 3 NFIRS EDW permissions is necessary for a user to access and run DW 

reports. It is recommended to assign the read-only permission to new users until they 

are accustomed to reports’ workflow. 

NFIRS EDW read-only users will not be able to modify or create a report.

Users with the NFIRS EDW read-only permission:

ĵ Are limited to using the Standard Reports and reports in their State Folder.

ĵ Will not view or be able to use Personal Folders.

ĵ Will “export” report results to their computer in PDF, Excel, CSV or TXT format.

ĵ Have access to all data in their group assignment (both Released and Unreleased 

status incidents).

ĵ Have access to only Released data in groups and states outside their group 

assignment.

ĵ Can use the Simple Filter and Drill tool when filters are available for the report.

Users with the NFIRS EDW Access permission have the same capabilities as read-only 

users and:

ĵ Can create Personal Folders and save reports (“Documents”) to them.

ĵ Can copy and paste Standard Reports to their Personal Folder and use the Modify

action.
6 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

ĵ Can access Applications > Web Intelligence and select the new document icon, 

which allows custom query and report capability. 2 universes are available: Incidents.

unx and Fire Departments.unx.

Users with the NFIRS EDW Admin permission:

ĵ Can save or publish reports to Public Folders.

Reminder: Do not save while in the Standard Reports folder.

ĵ State users can save, copy and paste reports to the State Folder.

Groups Access and Released/Unreleased Status data

Regardless of the NFIRS EDW BO permissions (EDW read-only, Access and Admin) 

assigned to your NFIRS account, you will see only Released status data outside your 

NFIRS group assignment. 

When running reports to compare your state to another state, we recommend using 

Released status only so that your state’s counts will align with the other state’s 

parameter.

Example: 

A state-level user’s NFIRS DW account is mapped to their state group in NFIRS. The 

user can access all data for Released and Unreleased reports at and below that group 

in NFIRS. When the user runs the Incident Count report and selects Released and 

Unreleased status, all incidents in the state will be included in the report counts. Here 

is an example for the results:

Note there is a count greater than 0 for Unreleased incidents. There is also a count 

greater than 0 for Invalid incidents, which are always Unreleased status. Now compare 

this report to 1 run for All 50 States and All Fire Departments. Because the user has 

no groups mapped to their account other than their own state or FD, the report will 

count only Released status data from all other states and FDs. The Unreleased count 

and the Invalid count will reflect the user’s state only.

Caution: When generating a report to include states/groups outside your own, use 

the Released status filter only.
Part 2: Login for New Users 7

Part 2: Login for New Users

The series of steps that follow take the user through the basics of NFIRS DW report 

generation, starting with the login. These steps are designed to walk the user through 

their first session in the NFIRS DW. The workflow includes scheduling reports as the 

preferred method when running reports. Once the user becomes proficient in the DW, 

other workflows and features can be used.

Log in to the NFIRS Data Warehouse — State and local NFIRS 

users

1. Log in to eNFIRS at https://www.nfirs.fema.gov/. Do not click the personal identity 

verification (or PIV) card icon.
8 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

2. On the landing page, select the Access NFIRS Data Warehouse button, which 

is a link. If you do not see the DW link, the NFIRS state program manager in your 

state needs to update and add the permissions to your account (https://www.

usfa.fema.gov/pocs/).

3. Click Continue in the pop-up.

4. The next screen will be the NFIRS DW BO workspace.
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 9

Part 3: Locating and Generating 

Standard Reports 

The first time you log in to the NFIRS DW, the Home screen will resemble the one in the 

steps that follow. After running a few reports to get accustomed to the workflow, the 

display can be adjusted by changing the Account Preferences (steps later in Preferences 

section). 

Take a moment to review the landing screen and locate these items:

ĵ Top ribbon (links) for Home, Favorites, Recent Documents, Recently Run reports 

and Applications. 

ĵ The center BI Launch Pad pull-down menu. This will become the pull-down menu 

for open reports. 

Most-used areas are Folders, BI Inbox and 

Instances. 

Access and Admin users: The first time 

you view the NFIRS DW workspace, there 

will be no subfolders under Personal 

Folders. You will create subfolders to 

manage your reports. 

EDW read-only users will not be able to 

view or use the Personal Folder (shown in 

the screenshot below).

ĵ The last icon in the far right contains Log Off and Settings (for Account Preferences).

ĵ The “tiles” are links to Folders, Categories, Documents, BI Inbox, Instances and 

Recycle Bin. You will not use Categories, and rarely, if ever, use the Documents 

and Recycle Bin. 
10 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

1. Select (click on) the Folders tile. 

2. Click the arrow (>) sign to expand Public Folders > NFIRS > Standard Reports 

to view the standard report categories. The steps in this guide use a Tally report 

and the NFIRS Assistance to Firefighters Grant Summary in the examples, but the 

steps are the same for any report. 

Expand using arrows.

Single click in the left frame 

to display the reports within 

each Report Category in the 

right frame.

3. Single click on Tally report category in the left side panel. 

4. The set of Tally reports will be displayed in the right frame area. Each row is a 

report (query).
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 11

Example 1 below shows the Tally reports. 

In the right frame, each row is a report. Its name 

is under Title. 

Each standard report type is Web Intelligence 

format. After running the report, you will be 

able to export the results in PDF, Excel, CSV or 

TXT format and save the report.

Example 2 below shows the reports that are available for grant applicants. 

Single click in 

the left frame 

to display the 

reports within 

each Report 

Category in the 

right frame.

Click and drag to adjust 

any column size.

Hover over the Details 

column to view the 

report’s description. 

Right-click on the report 

to bring up the Actions 

menu.
12 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

Generating a report — Schedule versus View

Users can select a Standard Report and run (“View”) the query at any time, but querying 

large data sets can affect the report completion time as will heavy network traffic. 

Scheduling a report, therefore, is the preferred method of submitting the reports 

for generation. Scheduling a report enables the user to close the browser and return 

later to retrieve the report, as well as use the email option to send the report to specific 

recipients.

Continue from Step 4 above, to schedule a Tally report:

5. Right-click on the Tally - Basic Module report.

6. Select Schedule.

The Schedule pop-up page has 2 drop-down menu tabs, General and Report Features. 

The screen collapses or expands depending on your selection.

Continue with the steps for the recommended, quickest routine. Most often, the report 

scheduled with the default “Now” will run and complete immediately. 
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 13

7. Change the report Title as desired. The title will appear in the report as well as 

the instance (report) name.

8. In Destinations, click Add.

9. Check BI Inbox. Check the box for Use default settings. Click Confirm in the 

lower right of the pop-up.

10. Do NOT change the Recurrence (leave it as Run Report Now).

11. Do NOT change Events, Scheduling Server Group and Notification (Notification 

feature and other options are explained later).
14 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

12. Click the Report Features tab.

Prompts selections (pop-up)

Prompts are the basic parameters for the report, such as incident date range, incident 

status (Valid, Invalid, No Activity or all), Released or Unreleased incidents or both, and 

the FDs that will be included. 

ĵ Prompts vary among the Standard Reports depending on the report’s purpose.

ĵ Some parameters will be required, some will have defaults designed for the reports 

and others will have a pick list to select a specific code or coded field, as in the 

Tally reports. 

Proceed with the steps to update the prompts. 

13. Click Edit Prompt Values (link).

Click Edit Prompt Values 

to update and change the 

prompts.
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 15

The Prompts pop-up will display. 

ĵ All the prompts with an icon to the left need to have at least 1 value selected. 

Prompts without an icon to the left are optional.

ĵ Reports have defaulted values for some prompts. Review and update as necessary.

The bottom of the screen 

shows the number of 

mandatory prompts.
16 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

14. Click the Prompt: Enter value(s) for State.

a. Scroll down the list using the slider on the right and select your state. To search, 

enter your state’s code in the Search lookup field, then select the code from the 

returned list. (The problem with entering it manually is the risk of misentering 

it; entering it in the wrong format will return no data.)

Note: If a list of values is not showing for a prompt, click the clockwise arrow 

icon (Refresh) to refresh.

Reminder: Choosing All 50 States will include only Released status incidents 

from states outside your own. Similarly, at the FD level, choosing All Fire 

Departments will include only Released status incidents from FDs outside 

your own group.

b. Click the prompt for From Date. In the Search lookup field, enter the start 

date for incidents in the report. Leading zeros are not necessary; for example, 

1/1/2022 is acceptable. 

c. Click Search, then select the date from the list. 

d. Click the prompt for To Date. Repeat to select the end date with the report.
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 17

e. You can also use the calendar icon to the right of the search bar to help you 

find the date if you prefer.

Note: Do not change the time portion value in the From Date and To Date

prompts. The time portion is ignored in these prompts. Leave it as 12:00:00 AM.

f. Click on the Fire Department ID (FDID) prompt. 

g. Enter your FDID number or department name in the Search lookup field and 

click Search.
18 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

h. Select the FDID for your state.

Note: FDIDs are in the format: #####_[state code]. To search for all FDIDs for 

a state, enter _VA such as for Virginia in the Search field and click the Search 

icon. To search for a specific FDID, always add the underscore and state code, 

for example, 54321_TR.

15. Review the remaining prompts and make any changes as desired.

Reminders: 

ĵ Activity summary reports should include No Activity status incidents. 

ĵ It is recommended to use only Valid status incidents for reports providing 

types of activity (analysis by Incident Types).

ĵ You do not have to change all the prompts. For example, Enter value(s) for 

NFIRS Version does not need to be changed. 
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 19

ĵ All prompts should be reviewed and updated as needed. To edit prompts and 

remove selected values, select the prompt, click the check box icon and then 

click the X for values that you want to remove from the selected prompts.

To view a prompt’s default values or 

current selections, click the check box 

at the top center.

The current selections can be removed 

by clicking the X on the far right.

16. After all values are selected, click the Apply button (it will not be enabled until all 

prompts have values). 

17. The Prompts window will close, and you are returned to the Schedule screen.

18. In the bottom of the screen on the right, click Schedule.
20 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

19. The screen that displays shows the report and its status. 

This screen is referred to as the History window. 

The NFIRS Group prompt

Some reports have a prompt named NFIRS Group. This prompt allows access to 

subfolders like counties and regions in the state’s group tree. You can leave the NFIRS 

Group default value as it is (All, or Level7), and make specific selections in the State 

and Fire Department prompts. Or use the NFIRS Group prompt to access the tree 

structure and make a selection by county level. 

1. Click the NFIRS Group prompt.

2. Click the Refresh icon to its right. 

3. The NFIRS - NFDC Level7 will display. 

4. Click on the group or click the arrow at the far right of NFIRS - NFDC. The next 

level, States, will display. 

5. Click on the desired state or click the arrow at the far right. 
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 21

6. The next level, Counties, or subfolder like Regions, will display.

7. Check the boxes for any group(s) that you want selected for the report (such as 

a group county folder or a list of FDIDs). The selections will display in the Groups 

prompts on the left. 

8. Fill out the remaining prompts and run or schedule the report.

Note: There is no need to select each check box at each group level, only the group 

level in which you would like to run the report. If you select multiple groups (e.g., 

Virginia > Division 1 [Richmond] > Amelia Co. (007)), then the report will display 

data with the highest group selected.

Locating completed reports 

Most reports scheduled with Run Now or Run Once will complete right away and the 

instance will be accessible in the History window before navigating away. When the 

status is Success (green checkmark), before navigating away, click the report to open 

and view the results. 

Note: A blue circle icon next to the report name means it is in process and running now. 

A gray clock icon means the report is scheduled to run. If a scheduled report is paused, 

the icon next to the name is a gray box with 2 vertical lines. It is not recommended to 

reschedule a report that is scheduled to be processed; rather, delete the report and 

create a new one with the appropriate schedule.

To view the report later if the report does not complete right away, you can find a copy 

in the BI Inbox tile on the DW’s BI Launch Pad. Or you can view the History page 

anytime by going back to the report in the Standard Reports folders, then right-click 

on the report and select History.

In the BI Inbox, locate the report and click to highlight, then click the View button. 

When checking the History, click on a completed report to view, or you can click on 

the 3 dots on the far right and select View.
22 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

For completed reports in the default Web Intelligence format, to download and save 

the report or to print it, proceed to the Exporting Report Results steps. For scheduled 

reports in PDF and Excel format, you will get an option to Open or Save the report. 

Optional: Generating a report using View

Use the View option only when the report is for a small data set, such as a single FD 

within a single year. 

1. Right-click on the desired Standard Report and select View. 

2. Enter the prompts values by clicking on each prompt.

3. After all the prompts are completed, in the lower right, click Run. 

a. The Run button will not be enabled until all prompts are entered. 

b. Always review the prompt entries before clicking the Run button.

4. The results will display. Completion time depends on the user’s internet or network 

performance, the report complexity, and the size of the data set being queried. 

An error can occur due to timeout, and if so, schedule the report. 

Proceed with the steps to export the results.

Viewing a report and exporting report results

When you open a completed report, you will see multiple tabs. The first tab, in this 

example, is Report, which contains the summary report. The second tab, Parameters, 

contains the parameters used to run the query. While not all Standard Reports have 

multiple tabs, they will have at least 2: the main report and the parameters. Review 

all tabs in a completed report because some reports have more than 2 tabs.

1. To export your report, click the Export icon that looks like a down arrow over a 

horizontal line. A pop-up window will appear. 
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 23

The default is Excel; however, many Standard Reports have been formatted for PDF. 

2. Select the desired format (Excel, PDF, HTML, TXT, CSV).

3. Then select the radio button for Reports and then check the box for All Reports. 

This will ensure that you always have the Parameters page with your report.

4. Click the Export button. The file will download (check your PC’s downloads folder) 

and can be saved on the computer as desired.

Reminder: The advantage to scheduling reports in the default Web Intelligence 

format is that you can decide on your download option (PDF, Excel, CSV, TXT) later 

after viewing the report. The Web Intelligence format has additional options available 

such as Print and Filters.

You have now completed the workflow to schedule and obtain a Standard Report.

Scheduling a report — receive or send via email 

1. Right-click on the desired report and select Schedule.

2. Click the Add button under Delivery Destinations.

3. Uncheck Default Enterprise Location and check Email.

4. Check the box for Use default settings to send to the email associated with your 

NFIRS account.
24 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

5. For additional options with email, uncheck Use default settings and complete 

the following steps.

a. Leave the Keep instance in history check box checked. 

b. In the From field drop-down box, select Add Placeholder (shows by default). 

You can also type your own email address, as it will be displayed in the sent 

email and can prevent this email from ending up in the spam folder.

c. In the To field drop-down box, select Email Address and type in the recipient’s 

email address. You will be typing over/replacing the text %EMAIL_ADDRESS% 

with the recipient’s email address.

d. Enter a Subject (or in the Add Placeholder drop-down, select Title for the 

report’s name). Leaving the Subject and message body text blank increases 

the likelihood the message will be sent to the spam folder.

e. Enter message body text. 

f. Under Target Name, check Add Attachment. Note the recipient will not be able 

to open a Web Intelligence format report from an email. Instead, schedule this 

report with a .pdf, .txt or .xlsx format so the recipient can open the attachment.
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 25

g. Optional: Check Use specific name to give the report a custom name. Leave 

the Add file extension box checked. 

h. Click Confirm, located at the lower right of the window.

i. On the Schedule screen, click the Report Features tab. 

j. Under Formats, select the file type for the report.

Reminder: Don’t use Web Intelligence as the format for an emailed report, 

since the report will not be able to be opened.

k. Click the Edit Prompts Values link and fill out the prompts. 

l. Click Schedule.

Check the status of a scheduled report

If the report is small, often you will see the status change with each phase (Pending, 

Running, Success, Failed); or use the History window’s Refresh icon to check for an 

updated status.

The History window displays the last 30 instances of the report. 

To close the History window, use the X in the upper-right corner.

Proceed to retrieve the report in the destination specified when scheduling it (BI Inbox). 

If you log out of BO and return later but do find the report in the BI Inbox, it is not 

complete. Follow these steps to check its status:

1. Locate the report you selected to schedule (in Standard Reports’ Tally category, 

for this example).

2. Right-click on the report (row).

3. Select History.
26 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

4. Check the Status column. The status will be Pending, Running, Success, Recurring

or Failed. Click on the Status link to review information on the report. If it failed, 

check the information for a missing prompt. For example, a common cause of 

failure is not selecting a State value.

Click the 3 dots and select 

Details to find the reason a 

report failed.

Deleting a report instance

There is a difference between deleting a single report instance, such as 1 that failed 

or is not necessary, and a report that was scheduled to run on a recurring basis. 

In the History window, locate the report and right-click on the 3 dots at the right. 

Select Delete. This deletes the report instance.

Click the 3 dots and 

select Delete to delete 

a report instance.

1. To delete a Recurring report, locate the report.

2. Right-click and select History. 

3. Locate the report with the Recurring status.

4. Right-click and select Delete. 

5. A message will appear in the confirmation pop-up reading, “This will delete the 

instance. Do you want to proceed?” Click OK. 

6. The report that was scheduled to recur will be deleted. 

Right-click the Recurring 

status report and select 

Delete. 

Reminder: When scheduling, use the default Run Now or Once option. Before 

scheduling a recurring report, please contact the NFIRS Support Center for guidance. 

It is recommended your scheduled report lasts 1 to 3 years, not the default 10 years. 

The report queue is periodically reviewed for recurring reports, and they are deleted to 

avoid strain on DW performance.
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 27

Rescheduling a completed report instance

To rerun a completed report with different prompts, go to the History page by going to 

the report in the Standard Reports folder, right-clicking the report name and selecting 

History. Then right-click on a report instance and click Reschedule. Review and update 

the report options/prompts as needed and click Schedule.

You have now completed the workflow to generate a Standard Report in Web 

Intelligence, PDF or Excel format by scheduling it to your BI Inbox or by sending the 

completed report via email. 

Optional: Personalizing your BO workspace 

To change the tiles that display on your landing page:

1. In the upper right row of icons, locate and select the icon for your username.

2. Select Settings, then select Account Preferences.
28 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

3. On the Account Preferences screen, slide the button for Use Administrator 

Provided Settings to the off position. 

4. Select Page Customization.
Part 3: Locating and Generating Standard Reports 29

5. Uncheck the Tabs and Tiles you do not want to see when you use the tool. The 

tabs are text links that display above the main area. For example: 

ĵ Users with EDW read-only permissions will not use the Applications tab, so 

remove it from view.

ĵ Since the Categories feature is not set up for NFIRS, remove the Categories

tile from view. 

Tabs: links at the top to a 

list of reports on a screen

Tiles: a square area that 

is a link to a workspace, 

screen or report.

In the Page Preferences area, you can make further adjustments:

6. Select Settings > Account Preferences > Page Preferences.

7. Adjust the landing page as desired by selecting options under Select Home Page. 
30 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

8. Under Column Preferences, adjust the columns as desired to display on the 

History screen and completed reports lists.

9. The view and preference selections will be in place the next time you log into the 

NFIRS DW. 

Do not change the Locale and Time Zone settings. 
Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions, Errors and Troubleshooting 31

Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions, 

Errors and Troubleshooting

Why should I schedule my reports?

Users can select a Standard Report and run the query at any time, but querying large 

data sets will require more time to complete. Network traffic can have an impact on 

performance and completion times, as well as the number of reports in the processing 

queue. Scheduling a report, therefore, is the preferred method of submitting the 

reports for generation. Scheduling a report enables the user to navigate away or close 

the browser and return later to retrieve the report, as well as use the email option to 

send the report to specific recipients.

When scheduling, use the Run Now or Run Once option if the report does not need to 

be generated on a regular basis. Do not schedule a recurring report without contacting 

the NFIRS Support Center.

Where do I find the reports I can generate?

In BO terminology, reports can be either public or personal. Public reports are in the 

NFIRS DW’s Standard Reports folder and are accessible by any user who has the 

necessary rights to the NFIRS DW. These report queries are designed by USFA and 

NFDC staff for the NFIRS community. Click on Standard Reports, then click on a folder 

(report type) to see the reports. Each row represents a report. 

NFIRS DW users with EDW Access and EDW Admin permissions will have the ability 

to copy these queries to the BO’s Personal Folder, where they will be private and 

cannot be seen or altered by other NFIRS DW users. Click on Folders > Personal to see 

your own reports. Once copied to your Personal Folder, the report can be modified 

(personalized).

If your state created custom NFIRS report queries for its users, they will be stored in 

the folder for your state.

Where can I find the description or definition of each report?

In the Standard Reports folders, point and hover the mouse pointer over the text 

*Report Details* in the Description column to view the report description tool tip.

Can I still view more than 1 report at a time? The old BO version had tabs so 

several reports could be open at once. 

The tab feature no longer exists, but in the top center of the screen is a drop-down 

box that will display Currently Open Documents for reports that are open. 

Where do I find the reports I ran yesterday?

Click on the Instances tile. 

ĵ Or if you saved them to your Personal Folder, look there. Right-click on View 

Latest Instance.

ĵ Or if you scheduled a report and selected the BI Inbox, click the BI Inbox tile.

ĵ Or locate the report, right-click it and select History.
32 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

How do I refresh a report generated 3 days ago or last week?

Right-click on the desired report and select View. The report will generate using the 

most recent data. Verify by the date or time of last refresh in the lower right corner 

of the results screen.

When copying or creating queries, the default is to Refresh data upon viewing

(running) the report. This is a setting that can be changed in the Save As box for each 

report when you are saving it to the Personal Folder.

Is there a report that lists the validation errors for all my incidents? 

No. The report named Invalid Incidents only provides a count of invalid incidents. 

When importing incidents to NFIRS, validation errors are provided after an import is 

completed in the import log files. Import log files are available in the Bulk Import Recent 

Reports tab for 30 days. When using the eNFIRS application to enter an incident, use 

the View Errors button to see the validation errors before closing the incident. 

I reviewed a report’s results and decided not to save it or run it again. What do I do?

In the center of the screen is a list of open reports. Select the X in the upper right 

corner to close the report instance. If the report has been saved to your Personal 

Folder and is no longer needed, delete it by selecting it (the row), right-click and select 

Organize > Delete.

I don’t see the Personal Folder, and the Save icon is not available or not working.

These features are based on your BO permission level. At first, your permission level 

(EDW read-only) will allow you to run the Standard Reports only, and you will not see 

or create a Personal Folder (you will export and save the completed report you wish 

to keep to your computer). After you become familiar with the Standard Reports, you 

can request the EDW Access permission role in order to use the BO Personal Folder, 

which will become your workspace in the NFIRS DW. Until you have the EDW Access

role, you cannot use the save action for a report in the BI format, you will only be able 

to export the report as a file and save it on your computer.

I ran a report query which resulted in “No Data to Retrieve in Incidents.” Is this 

a system error?

If the report result is “No Data to Retrieve in Incidents,” there is no data that matches 

the query. Click on the Parameters link and review the filters used. To run the report 

again with different filters, click the Refresh icon to access the user prompt input fields. 

Modify them as needed for the data set and run the query again.

Note that the message will refer to the universe, Incidents.unx or Fire Departments.

unx, such as “No Data to Retrieve in Fire Departments.”

In the From Date and To Date prompts, do I have to search for and select a date value?

No, you can type it in and add it manually. Enter the format M/D/YYYY (leading zeros 

are not necessary). Always spot-check the prompt values in the left before scheduling 

the report. 

In the From Date and To Date prompts, do I have to enter or change the time 

portion? Should it always show 12:00:00 AM?

The time portion is ignored in these prompts. Leave it 12:00:00 AM. Do not change 

the time portion value in the From Date and To Date prompts. 
Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions, Errors and Troubleshooting 33

The Fire Department ID selection prompt displays “All Fire Departments” and 

shows the list with FDIDs in other states, even though I selected my state. Do I 

have to manually select the FDIDs in my state?

No. When you select a single state (or more than 1 state) for the State prompt, only 

the FDIDs in those states and their data will be included in the report. When you select 

“All Fire Departments,” the report will contain data from all FDs in the selected state 

(or states). In the screenshots that follow, Arizona is the selected state, and the report 

will be run for all FDs in Arizona. You can select by the county or other group folder 

by changing the NFIRS Group in the Prompts.

In the Fire Department ID prompt, how do I filter the list of FDIDs to see only 

those FDIDs in my state?

In the Search field, enter an underscore and the state code (for example: _KS), then 

click the Search icon or hit the Enter key. The FDID list will refresh and display those 

FDs specific to the state. Select the desired FDs to apply it to the prompt. 

In the Fire Department prompt, how do I filter the list for my FD (a single FD)?

In the Search field, enter the FDID number, the name of the FDID, or a partial value 

and click the search icon or hit the Enter key. 

FDIDs are in the format: #####_[state code]. To search for all FDIDs for a state, 

enter _AZ such as for Arizona in the Search field and click the Search icon. To search 

for a specific FDID, always add the underscore and state code, for example: 54321_TR.

When the desired FD is listed, select it (click on it) or click Manual entry to apply it to 

the prompt. Be sure to verify it is added to the prompt on the left side of the screen. 

To filter the FDID list for a single state, enter underscore and 

the state code (_AZ) and click the Search icon (or hit Enter). 

Then check the box to select the FDID. 
34 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

I am not sure of an FD’s exact FDID number or its name. Can I search for it?

Yes. Enter a partial value and hit the search icon or hit the Enter key. You can also 

search by keywords with FD name.

Enter a partial value and hit Enter or search icon.

In Prompts, I clicked the Refresh button to update my selections, but nothing 

changed.

In the Prompts selections, the Refresh button will pull up selections if they are available. 

Click on the number of values in the prompt, then click Run. If an additional prompt 

is available, it will be displayed for selection.

I clicked the Refresh button to update my report results, but nothing changed.

If no changes were made to the query and the data in the DW has not been updated 

since the report was generated, there is nothing to refresh. The DW data is updated 

nightly only. It is 1 day behind the NFIRS National Database. 

How can I get access to another state’s Unreleased data?

You will need permission from that state. For more information, contact the NFIRS 

Support Center.

When my session times out, how do I resume working? Will I lose the report?

As the pop-up states, your session timed out due to inactivity. If your account has 

EDW Access or EDW Admin permissions, check the Personal Folder for an instance 

prefixed “do_not_use.” This is a partial report that might salvage the query, but not 

the results. The report or query must be rerun. 

If your session was ended, after login, check in your Personal Folder for a report title 

that contains a system-assigned number, for example, 423432_Incident Listing_321234. 

Assume it is not complete. You can run (View) the report, then choose “Save As...” and 

select the Personal Folder. Check that all your previous query work exists.

A pop-up states “invalid session.”

Your session timed out. Click OK and log in again. Session timeout occurs after 20 

minutes of no screen activity in the NFIRS DW reports. To prevent session timeout, 

perform an action, navigate to another feature or click the screen occasionally. 

Scheduling reports prevents the user from having to keep the browser open.
Part 4: Frequently Asked Questions, Errors and Troubleshooting 35

How long will my queries and reports be available in the NFIRS DW?

Currently, there are no limits on the size of reports a user can store; however, only 30 

successful reports can be listed in the History before the oldest ones get automatically 

deleted. The recurring instances will always be in view. 

It is recommended to clean up your Personal Folder annually. If many reports are 

stored in the Personal Folder, use the page selector arrows in the upper right to view 

the next page.

Will the system prevent me from modifying the main reports, the ones in the 

NFIRS folder?

Yes. Users at the state and FD level cannot modify or delete the Standard Reports in 

the NFIRS folder. In BO terms, these are “corporate level reports.” To modify a report 

query, the user must copy a Standard Report and save it in their Personal Folder.

Why do some reports like the Tally and Detailed Selected statistics omit incidents 

with aid given codes 3 and 4?

To prevent double counting of losses.
36 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

Part 5: Frequently Requested Queries

Many common queries do not need a custom report. 

“I want the frequency of incidents with fireworks, by property use.”

Assuming the question is how many fire incidents occurred by fireworks according to 

property use type, a Tally report is all you need. Since the heat source code set includes 

the code 54 for fireworks, when the tally is generated using the heat source-coded 

field, the report will be broken out by heat source codes. 

There are 2 ways. 

ĵ Select Tally - Fire and, in the prompts, change the Select Coded field from Area 

of Origin to Heat Source. Enter the other prompts’ values. Run the report. The 

frequency of code 54s will be a row in the report and show the frequency count.

Or: 

ĵ Select Tally - Basic, and instead of using the default Incident Type for the Coded 

Field filter, select Property Use. Run the report. Select “Save As,” select your 

Personal Folder, and close the report. Right-click on the report and select Modify. 

In the Fire Module Dimension, locate Ignition > Heat Source and move it to the 

filters. Select “equal to” and enter 54. Run the report. 

The standard report Structure Fires by Property Use may also be what you need. It 

categorizes fire incidents with Incident Type coded as 111-118 or 120-123 by Property 

Use codes. 

“I need a simple count of incidents where the detector alerted occupants.” 

In the Tally reports folder, select the Tally - Basic Module. In the Enter Coded Field

prompt, select Detector Alerted Occupants. Fill out the rest of the prompts as desired 

and schedule the report to your BI Inbox. The results will break out the frequency of 

incidents with a Yes, No or Unknown code in the Detector Alerted Occupants field 

and provide the total casualty and dollar losses for each of the codes.

“I need the fire causes for the calendar year’s incidents.”

There are 2 ways to describe and report on “fire cause” in NFIRS reports. 

One way refers to summarizing or counting fire incidents by the Cause of Ignition value 

reported in the Fire Module. The Cause of Ignition field values are: 

1 Intentional.

2 Unintentional.

3 Failure of equipment or heat source.

4 Act of nature.

5 Cause under investigation.

0 Cause, other (system-generated code only, not used for data entry).

U Cause undetermined after investigation.
Part 5: Frequently Requested Queries 37

The second way is to use the set of reports in the Fire Cause Category folder. These 

reports are designed to count by the incident’s assigned Fire Cause code. Each fire 

incident is assigned a cause code when it is passed to the DW. Once the cause code 

is assigned, the fire cause reports can count the incidents and categorize them by 

cause. Several data values or conditions in the incident determine its cause code and 

therefore its category. Refer to the Fire Cause Matrix on the USFA NFIRS Documentation 

page (https://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfirs/documentation/) for the method by which the 

code category is assigned and the definitions of new and previous code assignment 

logic. The reports can be generated for residential fires or structure fires. In general, 

fire cause categories are: 

ĵ Exposure

ĵ Intentional

ĵ Intentional

ĵ Investigation with Arson Module

ĵ Playing with heat source

ĵ Natural

ĵ Other heat

ĵ Smoking

ĵ Heating

ĵ Cooking

ĵ Appliances

ĵ Electrical malfunction

ĵ Other equipment

ĵ Open flame, spark (heat from)

ĵ Other unintentional, careless

ĵ Equipment misoperation, failure

ĵ Unknown

“How do I create my own queries and reports?”

After becoming familiar with the BO tools and the Standard Reports, you can request 

the NFIRS EDW Access level or EDW Admin level permission from your state program 

manager. With those permissions, you will be able to modify Standard Reports and 

create report queries of your own. 

NFIRS Data Warehouse Guide 2 (for Users with NFIRS EDW Access or EDW Admin 

permissions) describes the advanced steps to create new queries and custom reports. 

Steps will include modifying a standard report in Web Intelligence format, creating 

a new report, sharing a report and saving a report to the State Folder where it can 

be accessed by FD-level users. The NFIRS EDW permission level Access or Admin is 

required for modifying and creating the custom queries and reports.

Users must work with their state program manager prior to contacting the NFIRS 

Support Center to ask for help with queries and report issues. When reporting an 

error, users are expected to CC the state program manager when writing to the NFIRS 

Support Center and provide the steps they used; if the error is data-related, include 

the exported report with the Parameters page that shows the discrepancy (when 

exporting the report, select All to include the Parameters page).
38 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

Resources

The resources below will assist in planning reports that are consistent with entering 

an NFIRS report’s data and with the USFA NFDC data analysis methods, or simply 

understanding the methods used to count frequencies and totals in reports. 

NFIRS Complete Reference Guide: A source for NFIRS modules and field names and 

coding information: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/nfirs/NFIRS_Complete_

Reference_Guide_2015.pdf

Information on the Fire Cause reports matrices: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfirs/

documentation/

NFIRS Fire Data Analysis Guidelines and Issues: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/

pdf/nfirs/nfirs_data_analysis_guidelines_issues.pdf

NFIRS account resets

If you forget your NFIRS account username or password, go to the eNFIRS portal page and 

use the Forgot Username and Forgot ID button to request a reset email.

The email will contain a temporary password. Log in with the temporary password, 

then immediately change the password by using the Change Password option in the 

upper-right menu under your username.

If you lock your NFIRS account by entering 3 or more bad passwords, wait 20 minutes 

and try again. 
Contact Information 39

If your account is locked because the password expired (you have not changed the 

password in the last 90 days), use the Forgot Password link to request a temporary 

password to unlock your account. 

Department-level users requesting permissions for the NFIRS or NFIRS DW user 

accounts should contact the state program manager in their state.

Users who access any of the NFIRS online tools are encouraged to keep their NFIRS 

account active by logging in every 30 days, and to change the account’s password 

frequently. FEMA/DHS guidelines for security require user accounts to be automatically 

deactivated or locked if the passwords have not been changed within 90 days. Users 

can unlock their account by using the Forgot Password link. When unlocking your 

account, the temporary password will expire in 5 days and will need to be changed or 

your account will be locked again. If you have submitted a new user registration and 

have not been notified or if your account is inactive, you must contact your NFIRS state 

program manager who can update your account to active status.

Contact information for state NFIRS program managers is available on the USFA website 

at: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/pocs/.

Contact Information

Questions on incident data reporting and data access may be directed to the NFIRS 

Support Center at fema-nfirshelp@fema.dhs.gov or to your NFIRS state program 

manager. A list of state NFIRS contacts is available on the USFA website at http://www.

usfa.fema.gov/pocs/.
40 National Fire Incident Reporting System Data Warehouse Reports User Guide — Part 1

Acronyms

BI Business Intelligence

BO Business Objects

CSV comma-separated value

DHS Department of Homeland Security

DW Data Warehouse

EDW Enterprise Data Warehouse

FD fire department

FDID fire department ID

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

NFDC National Fire Data Center

NFIRS National Fire Incident Reporting System

PII personally identifiable information

USFA U.S. Fire Administration

16825 South Seton Ave.

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

usfa.fema.gov

October 2023