Fire CARES Data Use Manual 2018
User Manual: Pdf
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Fire-Community Assessment Response Evaluation System, known as
FireCARES, is a "big data" analytical system providing important information to
fire service and community leaders about their local fire department and the risk
environment in which firefighters are called to respond. FireCARES includes more
than a decade of research on structure fires and related injuries and death, as well
as building footprints, housing and mobile home units, public health and census
data, and vulnerable populations. FireCARES combines large sets of data from
various sources to "tell the story" of a fire department in regard to its risk
environment, resource capacity, and overall capability to respond to emergency
incidents.
FireCARES- The Community Assessment/ Response Evaluation System was
developed through a Partnership of Fire Service Organizations funded by
DHS/FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grants. The same team of researchers,
academics, and fire service professionals who conducted the landmark NIST
Residential Fireground Experiments (NIST TN 1661) and the NIST High-Rise
Fireground Experiments (NIST TN 1797) built FireCARES. FireCARES partners
include NIST, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the Metropolitan
Fire Chiefs Association, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the
Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI-Risk), Underwriters
Laboratory (UL), the Urban Institute, the University of Texas at Austin, and
Worcester Polytechnic.
The original datasets contained in FireCARES were procured and are maintained
by the team of experts that developed the system. Every fire department in the
United States has a dedicated page in FireCARES. Fire Departments regularly
contribute additional data to their respective pages expanding the data assets
available. Although we make every effort to accurately represent information in
FireCARES, source data used in determining performance scores, community
assessments and safe grades may at times be inaccurate due to the quality and
or quantity of underlying data sources and could adversely affect these metrics.
With the continued efforts of data scientist, developers, and fire service experts,
FireCARES is becoming the premier dataset in the fire service.
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TERMS OF USE
Terms and Conditions of Use. In order to request to use data from the FireCARES datasets,
users must agree to the terms and conditions (below), and complete the data application
form.
The FireCARES team collects the data and maintains the FireCARES Database. Therefore,
use of any information from this database must include a prominent credit line. That line is to
read as follows:
FireCARES: Community Assessment/ Response Evaluation System: The content
reproduced from the FireCARES Database remains the property of FireCARES and
contributing fire departments. The FireCARES team and partners are not responsible for any
claims arising from works based on the original Data, Text, Tables, or Figures.
Specific Terms of Agreement:
Limited license is granted to use information from the FireCARES Database provided the
Requester agrees to the following provisions:
1. Treat the information received from FireCARES as non-public data. The data may
never be used by Requester as a basis for legal actions.
2. Use the information received under the provisions of this Agreement only for not-for-
profit purposes including research, advocacy, education, or other fire and EMS
operations related activities supported by not-for-profit organizations.
3. All Information derived from the FireCARES Database shall remain the full property of
the FireCARES Project and shall be so noted in educational material, website
presentations, and publications produced using FireCARES data.
4. Warrant that the FireCARES Team and Partner Organizations are not responsible for
any claims arising from works based on the original Data, Text, Tables, or Figures.
5. Indemnify the FireCARES Team and Partner Organizations and their employees and
agents from any and all liability, loss, or damage suffered as a result of claims,
demands, costs, or judgments arising out of use of FireCARES Database.
6. Requestor may not sublease or permit other parities to use FireCARES data without
advance written approval of FireCARES.
The Requester's obligations hereunder shall remain in full force and effect and survive
the completion of the Requester's defined project described herein. The terms of this
Agreement shall be binding upon the Requester and any organization through which
his/her project is conducted.
A copy of any final material produced using FireCARES data must be forwarded to the
FireCARES Team.
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If you have read and agree to comply with the above Terms of Use, please provide the following
information, sign in the space provide and mail the original with signature to the address below.
*This form may be e-mailed if an electronic signature can be attached to the document.
Signature:
Date:
Print Full Name:
Mailing Address:
City: State:
Zip Code:
Phone:
Email
Organization(s) Represented:
Purpose of Research Hypothesis/Question to be answered:
Data format to be used:
Please indicate preference as either SAS or STATA format, both data formats include ASCII
(CSV files).
Analysis to be used:
Plans for Publication:
Project Sponsor:
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Mail or email data use request forms to the address below.
For further assistance in using the FireCARES Data Assets contact:
Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, Project Manager
1750 New York Ave NW
Washington DC 20006
Lmoore@iaff.org
202-824-1594
Tyler Garner, Lead Developer
garnertb@prominentedge.com
434-841-3803
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PUBLIC USE DATA LIST
This section includes the lists of data assets available in the FireCARES Database
• Fire Incidents
o Jurisdiction geopolitical boundary
o Call volume
14 years geocoded NFIRS fire data
4 years geocoded NFIRS EMS data
o Census tract geographic layer
• Jurisdiction Summary Description
o Department Type
o NFPA Region
o FDID
o State
o Phone/Fax
o Website link
o Population Protected
o Community Size
o Structure count
By community/structure hazard level1
By census tract/structure hazard level
• Station detail
o Station list/locations
o Apparatus
o Staffing (where available)
o First due area (where available)
o GIS service map – 4, 6, and 8-minute travel times
• Local Department Data Assets (where available)
o Inspection Data
o Hydrants
o First due area by station
• Community Risk Assessment Scores
o Risk of Fire
By community / by structure hazard level
By census tract / by structure hazard level
o Risk of Fire Spread
By community / by structure hazard level
By census tract / by structure hazard level
o Risk of Death and Injury
By community / by structure hazard level
By census tract / by structure hazard level
1 Structure hazard level as defined by NFPA 1710
