NERIS Login and Reporting Guide for Fire Departments

The short answer: fire departments sign in to NERIS at neris.fsri.org with the email address their department admin invited. The first sign-in uses a temporary password from an invitation email. After that, every sign-in asks for a code sent to your email. If you cannot get in, use Forgot Password on the sign-in screen, or ask your department's NERIS admin.

What NERIS is

The National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) replaced NFIRS as the national system for fire and all-hazards incident reporting. It is supported by the U.S. Fire Administration and built by the Fire Safety Research Institute, which is why the web address ends in fsri.org. Since January 1, 2026, new incident data goes to NERIS only.

Signing in to NERIS for the first time

1. Look for an invitation email from NERIS Registration. It holds a sign-in link and a temporary password.
2. Click the sign-in link in the email, then choose Log in.
3. Enter your email address and the temporary password, then set a permanent password.
4. Open My Account and confirm your name and contact details.

Temporary passwords do not last forever. Texas's state guidance, for example, notes that they expire after 28 days. If yours has expired, the NERIS onboarding center has a link to reset it.

Every sign-in after that

NERIS requires multi-factor authentication. Enter your email and password, and NERIS sends a numeric code to your email. Enter the code to finish signing in. If the code does not arrive, check spam and any filters your department's email system applies to outside senders.

When you cannot get in

• Forgot your password: choose Sign In on neris.fsri.org, then Forgot Password.
• Temporary password expired: use the reset link on the NERIS onboarding page.
• Your email is not recognized: ask your department's NERIS admin to invite you. Admins add and remove users, not the state.
• Your department is not registered yet: start at the NERIS onboarding center, neris.fsri.org/onboarding.
• Still stuck: contact the NERIS help desk. Several state fire marshal offices say they can no longer reset NERIS passwords or change roles themselves.

Who needs which role

NERIS has three user types: User, Superuser and Admin. Each department manages access to its own data.

• Admin: invites members, assigns roles, keeps the department's stations and units current, and approves any third-party software that sends reports for the department. The first admin is verified by the NERIS team during onboarding.
• Superuser and User: the members who enter and review incident reports, with the permissions your admins give them. The NERIS user guide lists exactly what each can do.

One practical tip from the onboarding guidance: keep at least two admins on your department's account. If your only admin retires or changes jobs, nobody is left who can add users or approve your software.

Two ways reports reach NERIS

NERIS separates Direct Entry, where members type reports into the free NERIS app at neris.fsri.org, from Vendor Entry, where members write reports in their department's software and the software sends them to NERIS.

Either way, the department onboards with NERIS first. If you use vendor software, your admin connects it in NERIS: the vendor gives you a Client ID, and the admin enters it under the department's software integration settings and enrolls the integration. Check that the vendor has earned a NERIS compatibility badge through the NERIS Integration Partner Program before you rely on it.

Before a report goes

• Confirm your department profile. NERIS IDs run department, then station, then unit. If a station or unit is missing or wrong in NERIS, reports that reference it will not line up.
• Fill the required fields. NERIS requires certain fields on every incident. Software that checks them before sending catches a gap while the call is still fresh.
• Mind the free text. Narrative and other free-text fields are the department's responsibility. Keep patient and personal details to what the field asks for.
• Confirm it arrived. Submitted incidents should appear on your department's NERIS dashboard.

Where Emergency Logs fits

Emergency Logs is verified NERIS V1 Data Exchange Compatible. Crews write the full NERIS incident report in Emergency Logs, required NERIS fields are checked before the report goes, and finished reports are sent to NERIS automatically, with no file to export or upload. Your department still onboards with NERIS, and your NERIS admin approves the Emergency Logs connection once. We walk you through it during setup.

Emergency Logs never asks for your NERIS password.

Sources

• NERIS Onboarding Center
• NERIS, "NERIS and software partners are building a connected fire data ecosystem" (Direct Entry and Vendor Entry)
• NERIS Onboarding Guide V1.1, via the South Carolina State Fire Marshal
• Texas State Fire Marshal's Office, NERIS FAQ
• Virginia Department of Fire Programs, NERIS guidance
• U.S. Fire Administration, NFIRS Sunset