NERIS Department IDs: What They Are and How to Find Yours

What Is a NERIS Department ID?

A NERIS Department ID (also called a NERIS Agency ID) is a countrywide unique identifier assigned to every fire and emergency services department that reports through NERIS. It replaces the old NFIRS FDID (Fire Department Identifier), which was only unique within a single state.

This distinction matters more than it sounds. Because NFIRS FDIDs were state-scoped, the number "12345" could refer to a different department in Virginia, California, and Texas simultaneously. That made national data aggregation unreliable and created persistent problems in grant data, research datasets, and mutual aid records.

NERIS IDs are globally unique. No two departments in the country share the same NERIS ID, regardless of state or territory.

What Your NERIS ID Is Used For

Your NERIS ID is embedded in everything your department does within the NERIS ecosystem:

• API authentication — your NERIS ID is attached to your OAuth2 credentials. Every incident record you submit is tagged with your department's NERIS ID automatically.
• Grant submissions — FEMA uses your NERIS ID to link your incident data to AFG and SAFER applications. Reviewers can verify your reported call volume and response times directly against NERIS records.
• Mutual aid records — when your department provides or receives mutual aid, both agencies are identified by NERIS ID in the Aid Classification module.
• National trend analysis — USFA aggregates incident data by NERIS ID for national reports, resource planning, and research datasets that inform future federal funding priorities.
• ISO PPC evidence — if you present incident data to support your ISO rating, your NERIS ID anchors the records to your specific department.

How to Find Your Department's NERIS ID

Your NERIS ID is assigned during department registration in the NERIS portal. There are three ways to find it:

1. Check your RMS configuration — if your RMS is already submitting NERIS data, your NERIS ID is in the system configuration, usually under "Agency Settings" or "NERIS Integration."
2. Check your NERIS portal credentials — log in to neris.fsri.org with your department's account. Your agency ID appears in your profile and credential settings.
3. Contact your state fire reporting coordinator — if your department hasn't completed NERIS registration, your state coordinator can help initiate registration and obtain your ID.

NERIS ID vs. NFIRS FDID — The Conversion Problem

If your department is converting historical NFIRS data to NERIS format, you cannot simply carry over your FDID. The two systems use completely different identifier schemes.

When converting historical NFIRS records:

• Replace the FDID in converted records with your NERIS ID in the neris_id_agency field
• Note in your data documentation that converted records used the NFIRS FDID [your state]-[your FDID] prior to conversion
• Do not submit converted records without a valid NERIS ID — the API will reject them

5AlarmData's NFIRS-to-NERIS converter automatically prompts for your NERIS ID and populates the correct field in converted records.

What If Your Department Isn't Registered Yet?

If your department hasn't obtained a NERIS ID, you are not submitting NERIS-compliant data — even if your RMS has a NERIS module installed. Registration is required before any data can be submitted to the national NERIS API.

To register:

1. Visit neris.fsri.org and create a department account
2. Provide your department's legal name, state, county, and jurisdiction type
3. Receive your NERIS ID and OAuth2 credentials (Client ID and Client Secret)
4. Configure your RMS with the credentials — your vendor's support team can usually complete this in one session