Resources
Fire service knowledge, minus the sales pitch.
This library covers the questions fire departments actually ask: who owns your incident data, what to ask before choosing a records management system, how departments put RedAlert to work, and more. Deeper topics have their own centers, NERIS, ISO ratings, grants & funding, reporting & records, and guides. Written by Alpine Software (the Rochester, NY team behind RedAlert) drawing on 30+ years serving 1,000+ fire departments.
Where are the case studies?
They have their own section now, five departments on what changed after the switch, with named people and real numbers.
Industry articles
Guides and explainers on reporting, compliance, funding, and running a modern department.
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NERIS Onboarding Guide for Fire Departments: Step-by-Step Setup
As of January 2026, NERIS is the official reporting standard for fire incident data in the United States, NFIRS is done. This guide walks fire departments through what actually changed, how NERIS affects year-end reports, and a six-step onboarding sequence: confirm your RMS is NERIS V1 certified, get your Entity ID, configure incident types, train your crew, run a test incident, and build a quality-check process.
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NERIS After Go-Live: What Fire Departments Learned from the First Official Webinar
On April 7, 2026, the NERIS team hosted its first webinar since the platform officially launched: covering how departments are using the system in practice, why PII and property loss were removed from the core report, and what's coming next in the Incident Analysis module and Community Risk Reduction expansion. Here's a recap of what fire departments need to know.
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Navigating the Fire Chief's Journey: Lessons for New Fire Chiefs from the 100 Day Plan
New fire chiefs succeed by adapting their leadership style to the department they inherit, whether rising through the ranks or arriving as an outsider. Insights from Chief John Butler of Fairfax County, Virginia, and Chief Al Yancey Jr. of Anoka, Illinois, shared on the iCHIEFS Podcast episode "The 100 Day Plan: Succeeding as a New Fire Chief," show why relationships, adaptability, and emotional intelligence matter as much as operational skill.
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From Pen and Paper to Biometrics: The Evolution of Fire Department Attendance Tracking
Fire departments that still track attendance with pen-and-paper sign-in sheets are exposed to fraud, LOSAP mismanagement, and failed audits. Biometric kiosk systems replace manual logs with verified, tamper-proof records that hold up when the auditors arrive.
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GIS Mapping for Fire Departments: How It Enhances Situational Awareness
GIS mapping lets fire departments layer building structures, hydrants, hazards, and roads onto a single interactive map, giving responders real-time situational awareness before they reach the scene. It speeds response, improves resource allocation, and is central to how NERIS handles incident data.
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Leveraging Big Data for Fire Incident Management: How Fire Departments Use Data to Respond Faster
Big data helps fire departments respond faster, predict risks before they become emergencies, and allocate personnel and equipment where they're needed most. This article covers how real-time information, predictive analytics, data ownership, and a centralized platform turn a department's own records into better outcomes.
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The Role of Mobile Apps in Modern Firefighting Operations
Mobile apps give firefighters instant access to incident details, real-time updates from dispatch, maps and hydrant locations, and pre-plan data, from anywhere. That translates directly into faster response times, safer operations, and a more coordinated team.
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On-Prem vs. Cloud Servers: What's Best for Your Fire Department?
On-prem servers give fire departments full control but come with hardware costs, maintenance burden, and security responsibility. Cloud servers offer pay-as-you-go pricing, access from anywhere, and automatic updates, which is why most departments without dedicated IT staff are better served in the cloud.
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Data Ownership in Fire Departments: Who Really Owns Your Records?
Fire departments own their incident data only if the vendor contract says so, specifically. This guide covers the three data-ownership terms every department should demand: request frequency, response time, and file format, plus sample contract language you can use.
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Getting the Best Fire RMS? Start With These Questions to Ask Vendors
Selecting the best fire RMS means asking vendors tough questions across nine areas: custom reporting (including NFIRS-to-NERIS support), data ownership, operational management, real-time data sharing, occupancy records, integrations, customization, ease of use and support, and data migration. Here's the key question to ask in each.
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Tracking Fire Code Violations: How Fire Departments Ensure Compliance
Fire departments ensure fire safety compliance by inspecting for common code violations (blocked exits, dead extinguishers, tampered alarms, and damaged fire-rated barriers) then tracking and documenting them so problems get fixed before an emergency. Digital violation tracking replaces error-prone manual reports, surfaces repeat offenders, and keeps inspection records shareable across the department.
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Multi-FDID Management: How Fire Departments Streamline Reporting Across Jurisdictions
Multi-FDID management lets counties and multi-department jurisdictions consolidate incident reporting, personnel records, and notifications across separate fire department identifiers. Done well, it eliminates siloed data, duplicate entries, and the compliance headaches of merging reports from incompatible systems.
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Why Fire Departments Need Custom Reporting to Meet Regulatory Compliance
Fire departments answer to NFPA standards, OSHA safety rules, federal incident reporting, and a patchwork of state and local codes, and off-the-shelf, standardized reporting can't capture what every jurisdiction requires. Custom reporting lets departments record the exact data their regulators demand, catch compliance issues before they become penalties, and adapt when the rules change.
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Fire Department Attendance Accountability: Could Your Process Survive an Audit?
Most fire departments choose an attendance process that's easy over one with controls, and that opens the department and its taxpayers to exploitation. If tax dollars are allocated to members based on call attendance, the department needs verified, auditable records, not a pen-and-paper sign-in sheet.
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Guide to Selecting a Fire Department Records Management System (RMS)
Choosing a fire department records management system comes down to six factors: scalability and customization, intuitive design with live training, seamless integration, cloud-based security, a supportive US-based vendor, and proven data migration. This guide walks through what to look for in each, and how to tell a lasting asset from a future headache.
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What Are Pre-Incident Plans, and Why Do Firefighters Need Them on Mobile?
A pre-incident plan (preplan) documents what firefighters need to know about a building before an emergency: layout, hazardous materials, water supply, and access points. Mobile access matters because a preplan locked in a binder at the station can't help a crew rolling up on a working fire.
Webinars
Recorded sessions with the Alpine team, watch on demand.
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NFIRS to NERIS: What Volunteer Fire Departments Need to Know Now (NVFC Webinar)
A National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) webinar featuring Tyler Gibbs of Alpine Software, covering what the retirement of NFIRS and the move to NERIS mean for volunteer fire departments: key differences in structure and validation, common misconceptions, and practical steps toward a smooth, compliant transition.
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NERIS in RedAlert: From Setup to Submission (Webinar for Fire Departments)
A recorded webinar showing fire departments exactly how NERIS works inside RedAlert: from configuring your department for compliance, to completing and validating reports, to submitting data directly to NERIS. Includes a Q&A with Alpine Software's RedAlert experts.
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NERIS Simplified: Why, What, and How to Prepare (Webinar for Fire Departments)
A 30-minute recorded webinar from Alpine Software that breaks down the NFIRS-to-NERIS transition for fire departments: why the change happened, what's different, and how to get ahead of it. The core message: this shift isn't as daunting as it seems, because your RMS vendor should be handling the heavy lifting.
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Effortless Multi-FDID Integration: Webinar on Uniting Fire Departments with Seamless Data Management
A recorded webinar for fire departments that manage multiple FDIDs: county systems, merged districts, and multi-station operations. Learn how RedAlert unifies incident reporting, segments alerts and notifications, and keeps personnel tracking accurate across departments.
White papers
Deeper dives, formatted for sharing with your board or district.
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Navigating the NFIRS to NERIS Shift: White Paper for Fire Departments
A white paper for fire departments on the transition from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) to the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS): what changed, why it promises better data accuracy and emergency response, and what your department needs to know to stay compliant.
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Transforming Firefighting Through Technology: White Paper on Fire Department Records Management
A white paper on the often-overlooked role of record keeping in firefighting operations. Manual processes are time-consuming and error-prone. This paper shows how modern fire department software streamlines records management, saves time, and reduces compliance risk.
News & press
Company announcements and product updates.
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Alpine Software and SFFMA: Shaping the Future of Texas Fire Departments
Alpine Software presented "From Data to Dollars: Cost Recovery and the NFIRS to NERIS Shift" at the 2025 SFFMA District Leader Symposium in Austin, reaching leaders from 16 Texas fire service districts. The talk connected cost recovery to the NFIRS-to-NERIS transition and showed how RedAlert's automation, including integration with Fire Recovery USA, helps departments recover costs and maximize funding.
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Banyan Software Announces Acquisition of Alpine Software
Banyan Software has acquired Alpine Software, the Mendon, New York maker of fire department records management solutions covering dispatching, call reporting, human resources, inventory management, and real-time mobile tracking.
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Significant Updates to RedAlert's Automatic Vehicle Location & Responder Apps
Alpine Software has released major updates to RedAlert's AVL and Responder mobile apps, including in-app NFIRS report editing, scene photo attachments, critical and time-sensitive push notifications, and a new truck inspection module.
Common questions
Where should we start if our department is preparing for NERIS?
Start with the NERIS Resource Center. It explains what NERIS is, how the migration from NFIRS works, and includes a readiness checklist you can work through in an afternoon. The articles here go deeper on specific topics like Entity IDs and onboarding.
Are these resources only relevant to RedAlert customers?
No. Most of this library is vendor-neutral guidance on reporting standards, ISO scores, LOSAP, grants, and department operations. Where RedAlert solves the problem being discussed, we say so, but the guidance stands on its own.
Can we get help with a topic that isn't covered here?
Yes. Call (585) 264-9080 and you'll reach a real person in Rochester, NY who knows the fire service. If your question is about seeing any of this in software, book a demo and we'll walk through it live.