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NFIRS Codes Cheat Sheet

Here’s a cheat sheet of some of the most commonly used codes in the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) 5.0:

Incident Type Codes

Explore Incident Types, Actions Taken, or Property Uses – these are the primary NFIRS code categories for each incident or response call. Looking for other elements or codes? Check out the complete NFIRS code list:
 Code # Fire
111 Structure Fire – Building Fire
Note : excludes confined Fires
131 Vehicle Fire – eg. Passenger Vehicles, but not a motorhome
113 Cooking Fire – Confined To Container, no extension
114 Chimney or Flue Fire – Confined To what holding equipment, no extension
121 Fire In Mobile Home – Used As Fixed Residence, eg. fixed motorhome
651 Smoke Scare, Odor Of Smoke – excludes gas, and not smoke chases(652)
141 Wildland Fire – Forest, Woods or Wildland Fire
142 Brush or Brush-and-Grass Mixture Fire
143 Grass Fire
561 Unauthorized Burning – includes under control / not endangering property but NOT campfires
652 Steam, Vapor, Fog or Dust Thought To Be Smoke – not Smoke Scare(651)
Code # NOTHING DOING
611 Dispatched & Cancelled En Route
622 Unable to locate (UTL)
Code # MEDICAL / RESCUE
321 EMS Call, excluding Vehicle Accident With Injury
322 Motor Vehicle Accident With Injuries
324 Motor Vehicle Accident With No Injuries.
424 Carbon Monoxide Incident
352 Extrication Of Victim(s) from Vehicle
Code # SEARCH / RESCUE
341 Search For Person On Land
342 Search For Person In Water
Code # MISCELLANEOUS
444 Power Line Down
331 Lock-in note: If locked out use Lock-out (511).
362 Ice Rescue

More Incident Type Codes …

Volunteer Fire Departments typically run these incident types, but if not listed here view the list of all Incident Types:

Canceled / UTL :

 Code # 
611 Canceled En Route – Dispatched and canceled en route. Incident cleared or canceled prior to arrival of the responding unit. If a unit arrives on the scene, fill out the applicable code. Coding a canceled
622 Unable to Locate (UTL) – No Incident Found On Arrival At Dispatch Address. Coding a UTL

Fire – Structure, Indoor, etc. :

 Code # 
111 Structure Fire – Building fire. Excludes confined (to container, e.g. cooking pan/chimney) fires.
131 Vehicle Fire – Passenger vehicle fire. Includes any motorized passenger vehicle, other than a motor home. (e.g. pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, buses).
113 Cooking Fire, Confined To Container – without fire extension beyond the cooking container/vessel.
114 Chimney or Flue Fire, Confined To Chimney or Flue – Excludes fires that extend beyond the chimney (111 or 112).
121 Fire In Mobile Home Used As Fixed Residence e.g. a motor home used as a residence.
651 Smoke Scare – Smoke scare, odor of smoke, not steam (652). Excludes gas scares or odors of gas (671). Note: Not a “smoke chase”. How to code a Smoke Report (Smoke Chase)

Outdoor Fire & Smoke:

 Code # 
141 Wildland Fire – Forest, woods, or wildland fire. Includes fires involving vegetative fuels, other than prescribed fire (632), that occur in an area in which development is essentially nonexistent, except for roads, railroads, power lines, and the like. Also includes forests managed for lumber production and fires involving elevated fuels such as tree branches and crowns. Excludes areas in cultivation for agricultural purposes such as tree farms or crops (17x series).
142 Brush Fire – Brush or brush-and-grass mixture fire. Includes ground fuels lying on or immediately above the ground such as duff, roots, dead leaves, fine dead wood, and downed logs.
143 Grass Fire – Grass fire. Includes fire confined to area characterized by grass ground cover, with little or no involvement of other ground fuels; otherwise, see 142.
561 Unauthorized burning – Unauthorized burning. Includes fires that are under control and not endangering property, but note … does NOT include illegal/unattended campfires.
652 Smoke Report – How to code a Smoke Report (Smoke Chase)

Medical & MVA:

 Code # 
321 Medical Call – pretty much used for Emergency Management Service (EMS) call. Includes calls when the patient refuses treatment. Note: Excludes vehicle accident (MVAs) with injury and pedestrian struck. See next.
322 Motor Vehicle Accident with Injuries – Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) with injuries. Includes collision with other vehicle, fixed objects, or loss of control resulting in leaving the roadway.
324 Motor Vehicle Accident no Injuries – Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) with no injuries.
424 Carbon Monoxide Incident – CO incident.
352 Extrication Of Victim(s) from Vehicle. Includes rescues from vehicles hanging off a bridge or cliff.

Search and Rescue (SAR):

 Code # 
341 Search For Person On Land.
342 Search For Person In Water.

Hazardous Materials / Conditions:

 Code # 
412 Gas Leak (Natural Gas or Liquid Petroleum Gas)
424 Carbon Monoxide Incident – Caron Monoxide (CO) incident.
444 Power Line Down
736 Carbon Monoxide Detector Activation Due To Malfunction.
746 Carbon Monoxide Detector Activation, No Carbon Monoxide.

Miscellaneous:

 Code # 
444 Power Line Down
331 Lock-in
511 Lock-out
362 Ice Rescue

Rules for selecting your incident type:

Pick the best fit Incident Type Code:

rule logic
#1 Incident Type defines what was found at the incident scene upon arrival of the fire department. “As Found” – NOT – “As Toned”. If toned to an MVA but are UTL, then code as UTL – Unable to locate, not as MVA.
#2 Use the lowest/lower code series for determining the Incident Type when more than one Incident Type is found/applicable. (If 400 and 100, pick 100.)

NFIRS Incident Type Groups / Code Series

NFIRS 5.0 Incident Codes are grouped together, separated into series (i.e. by hundred):

If you don’t see the incident type to match your needs, here is a list of all Incident Types.

Actions Taken Codes

Definition: The duties performed at the incident scene by the responding fire department personnel.

Note: Always pick the lowest numbered value applicable.
These are the more commonly used actions taken (related to the incident types above).

General Actions Taken

 Code #  General
81 Incident Command – Incident Command. Includes providing support to incident command activities.
86 Investigate – Investigate.
93 Canceled en route – Needed for canceled incidents, since this is a required field.

Firefighting Actions Taken

 Code #  Firefighting
11 Extinguishment – Extinguishment by fire service personnel.
12 Salvage & Overhaul
87 Investigate – Fire Out – Investigate – Fire Out on Arrival.

Medical Actions Taken

 Code #  Medical
31 Provide First Aid & Check For Injuries – medical evaluation of patient.
32 Basic Life Support – Provide basic life support (BLS).
33 Advanced Life Support – Provide advanced life support (ALS).

Search / Rescue / MVA Actions Taken

 Code #  Search / Rescue
21 Search – Search for lost or missing person. Includes animals.
22 Rescue – Rescue, remove from harm. Excludes vehicle extrication (23).
23 Extrication – Extrication or disentangling of a person. Excludes body recovery (24).
78 Control Traffic – Control traffic. Includes setting up barricades and directing traffic.

If you don’t see the action taken to match your needs, here is the list of all Actions Taken.

Property Use Codes

Definition: ‘Property use’ (in NFIRS 5.0) refers to the actual use of the property where the incident occurred, not the overall use of mixed use properties.
These are the more commonly used property uses …

Residential

 Code #  Residential
419 One or Two Family Dwelling – One- or two-family dwelling, detached, manufactured home, mobile home not in transit, duplex
429 Multifamily Dwelling – Includes apartments, condos, townhouses, rowhouses, tenements.
962 Residential Street, Road or Residential Driveway

Mercantile Business

 Code #  Mercantile Business
571 Service station, gas station. – IIncludes LP-gas stations with associated convenience stores and boat refueling stations. Excludes vehicle sales (579).
500 Mercantile, business – Other.

Outdoor

 Code #  Outdoor
669 Forest, Timberland, Woodland. Includes standing timber without logging operations; wildlife preserves; timber tracts where planting, replanting, and conservation of forests are conducted; and areas where uncultivated materials such as wild rubber, barks, and roots are gathered. Also includes facilities for extracting, concentrating, and distilling of such materials when the facilities are located within the forest. Excludes grasslands and brush (931).
946 Lake, river, stream.
961 Highway or Divided Highway
983 Pipeline, power line, or other utility right-of-way.

Assembly

 Code #  Assembly
215 Church, Mosque – Includes synagogues, temples, chapels, religious educational facilities, and church halls.
151 Library
161 Restaurant or cafeteria – Places specializing in on-premises consumption of food. Includes carryout and drive-through restaurants.
162 Bar, nightclub, saloon, tavern, pub.

Various

 Code #  Various
215 High School, Junior High, Middle School
213 Elementary School – Includes Kindergarten.
888 Fire Station
NNN None – No Use

Miscellaneous

 Code #  General
000 Property Use – Other
UUU Undetermined – This information was not determined
NNN None – No Use

If you don’t see the property use to match your needs, here is the list of all Property Uses and here is a list of all Mixed Use Properties

Last Updated on April 25, 2023