NFIRS is best described as which?

• A. National Fire Incident Reporting System, a local incident data log.
• B. National fire incident data collection system coordinated by state authorities.
• C. A system for collecting nationwide fire incident data administered by the United States Fire Administration, with local departments forwarding data to a state coordinator who reports to USFA.
• D. A public safety database for incident records.

Answer: (C)

NFIRS is a nationwide system designed to collect fire incident data, overseen by the United States Fire Administration. Local fire departments gather incident information and forward it through state coordinators, who then report to USFA. This structure—local data feeding into a state coordinating process and ultimately into a federal administering body—distinguishes NFIRS from a purely local log or a state-only collection, and from a general public safety database. The description that matches this flow and administration best reflects NFIRS.