To get a fire incident report, contact the fire department that responded to the call and submit a public records request through their online portal, email, mail, or records counter. You’ll need the date and address of the incident, and in most jurisdictions you don’t have to be the property owner or otherwise involved to ask. Fees are typically small or waived, and turnaround runs from a few business days to a few weeks depending on the department’s size and whether the fire is still under investigation.
Who Can Request a Fire Report
Fire incident reports are public records under every state’s open records or freedom of information law. That means anyone can ask for one: the property owner, a tenant, a neighbor, a journalist, an insurance adjuster, or a member of the public with no direct connection to the fire. You generally do not have to prove involvement or show identification for a standard report, though some departments ask for ID at an in-person counter.
There are limits. Portions of a report tied to an active arson or criminal investigation can be withheld, medical and EMS information is usually redacted before release, and records identifying a juvenile involved in setting a fire may be sealed. The suppression narrative, damage estimate, and cause determination are almost always releasable even when other parts are not.
Gather the Incident Details First
Fire departments respond to hundreds or thousands of calls a year, so the more specific you are, the faster records staff can pull the right file. Before you submit anything, write down:
- The date of the incident, and an approximate time if you have it.
- The street address where the fire occurred. For an incident on a highway or in an open area, use a cross street or mile marker.
- The type of incident: structure fire, vehicle fire, hazardous materials response, cooking fire, and so on.
- The incident number, if you already have one from a prior interaction with the department or from your insurance company. This is the fastest lookup key.
Most department request forms also ask for your name, contact information, your relationship to the incident (if any), and how you want the report delivered.
How to Submit the Request
Departments differ, but you’ll usually find at least one of these channels:
- Online portal or web form. Larger departments post a public records form on their website. Fill in the incident details, submit, and you’ll typically get a confirmation or tracking number.
- Email. Many departments accept requests sent to a records or public information address. Attach the department’s form if there is one, or send a short message with the incident details listed above.
- Mail. Send a written request to the records or administration office. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a paper copy sent back.
- In person. Visit the department’s headquarters or records unit during business hours with the incident details in hand.
If you’re not sure which department responded, start with the fire department that serves the jurisdiction where the fire occurred. For unincorporated areas, that’s usually the county fire department or a fire protection district. The local 911 dispatch center can also tell you which units were sent to a given address.
Fees and Processing Time
Fees vary. Some departments charge nothing for a copy sent by email. Others charge a flat fee per report, often ranging from a few dollars up to around $25, and some bill per page. If your request requires staff to search archived records, a handful of jurisdictions add an hourly search fee once the work exceeds a set threshold.
How long you wait depends on the department. A small suburban department with an online form might email the report within a few business days. A large urban department processing hundreds of records requests may take two to four weeks. If the fire is under active investigation, expect longer delays or a partial release until the investigation closes. When you submit, ask the records clerk for a realistic timeline, especially if you’re working against an insurance or court deadline.
What You’ll See in the Report
Most U.S. fire departments use a reporting format developed by the U.S. Fire Administration. Until early 2026 that was the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS); as of February 2026 the USFA replaced it with a cloud-based platform called the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS).1Homeland Security Today. NFIRS Retired as New NERIS Platform Becomes the Nations Only Fire Incident Data System You still request the report from the local fire department, not from a federal database, and the core information is the same under either format.
A typical report shows the incident date, alarm and arrival times, street address, and a three-digit incident type code. It records the actions firefighters took, the number of apparatus and personnel deployed, and whether mutual aid was given or received. Property and contents losses appear as estimated dollar amounts alongside pre-incident values. Casualty information covers civilian and firefighter injuries and deaths. The report identifies the property owner and any other person or entity involved, notes whether a smoke detector alerted occupants, and ends with a remarks section where the reporting officer describes what happened in narrative form.2U.S. Fire Administration. NFIRS 5.0 Self-Study Program – Basic Module For structure fires, additional modules may cover the origin, cause, and contributing factors in greater detail.
Incident Type Codes
The three-digit code on the report classifies the call. Code 111 is a building fire. Code 113 is a cooking fire confined to the vessel. Code 114 is a chimney fire that didn’t spread beyond the flue. Code 131 is a passenger vehicle fire. Motor vehicle accidents may appear as 322 (with injuries) or 324 (without injuries).3U.S. Fire Administration. NFIRS 5.0 Complete Reference Guide
These codes matter because insurers and courts read them literally. A code 111 building fire triggers a different claims path than a code 113 confined cooking fire. If the code on your report doesn’t match what actually happened, contact the department’s records division and ask about a correction.
When Part of the Report Can Be Withheld
A department can legally hold back all or part of a report in a few situations:
- Active criminal investigation. If the fire is being investigated as arson or is tied to another crime, the report may be exempt until the investigation closes. State open records laws generally allow agencies to withhold records that would interfere with pending law enforcement work.
- Medical information. When the fire department provides EMS, patient care reports are generated alongside the fire report. State medical confidentiality laws and, in some cases, HIPAA restrict release of patient health data, so names, medical details, and other identifying information are typically redacted.
- Juvenile involvement. If a minor is identified as involved in setting the fire, state juvenile privacy laws may seal or redact those portions.
A redacted report is not a denial. You should still get the non-exempt portions with sensitive sections blacked out. If the department withholds the entire report, ask for a written explanation citing the specific legal exemption.
If Your Request Is Denied
A denial is not necessarily the end of the road. Start by asking for the refusal in writing with the legal basis identified. Some denials come from a misunderstanding of what you asked for, an incomplete form, or a clerk who isn’t sure of the rules, and a polite follow-up clarifying the request resolves many of them.
If that doesn’t work, every state’s open records law includes an enforcement mechanism. Depending on the state, that may mean filing a complaint with the state attorney general’s office or an open records commission, exhausting an administrative appeal inside the agency, or filing a court action to compel disclosure. A local attorney familiar with your state’s open records law can tell you whether the denial is likely to hold up or worth challenging.
Using the Report for Insurance or Legal Claims
If you’re pulling the report for an insurance claim, request it early. Adjusters treat the fire department’s report as central documentation, and the incident type code, cause determination, and damage estimate feed directly into their assessment. Submit it with your photos and inventory of damaged property when you file.
In legal matters, the report can establish basic facts: when the fire started, how it spread, and what the department found on scene. Attorneys use these reports in negligence claims, landlord-tenant disputes, product liability cases, and insurer subrogation actions. The report reflects the department’s preliminary findings, though. If the cause is listed as “under investigation” or “undetermined,” the report alone may not prove how the fire started, and a private fire investigator’s analysis may be needed to fill the gap.
When someone was injured, the publicly released copy will likely have medical details redacted. An attorney can obtain unredacted medical records through a subpoena or a signed HIPAA authorization from the patient, but the fire report obtained through a standard public records request will not include that information.