AS 2577.

1—1992
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Australian StandardR

Australian fire incident reporting

system

Part 1: Description and

implementation
 This Australian Standard was prepared by Committee FP/5, Reporting Fires. It was approved
on behalf of the Council of Standards Australia on 8 April 1992 and published on
22 June 1992.

The following interests are represented on Committee FP/5:

Australian Assembly of Fire Authorities
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Australian Association of Rural Fire Authorities

Australian Fire Protection Association
Civil Aviation Authority
Commonwealth Fire Board
CSIRO, Division of Building Construction and Engineering
Fire Protection Industry Association of Australia
Insurance Council of Australia
Safety Institute of Australia

Review of Australian Standards. To keep abreast of progress in industry, Australian Standards are subject to
periodic review and are kept up to date by the issue of amendments or new editions as necessary. It is important
therefore that Standards users ensure that they are in possession of the latest edition, and any amendments thereto.
Full details of all Australian Standards and related publications will be found in the Standards Australia Catalogue
of Publications; this information is supplemented each month by the magazine ‘The Australian Standard’, which
subscribing members receive, and which gives details of new publications, new editions and amendments, and of
withdrawn Standards.
Suggestions for improvements to Australian Standards, addressed to the head office of Standards Australia, are
welcomed. Notification of any inaccuracy or ambiguity found in an Australian Standard should be made without
delay in order that the matter may be investigated and appropriate action taken.

This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 90103.

 AS 2577.1—1992
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Australian StandardR

Australian fire incident reporting

system

Part 1: Description and

implementation

First published as part of AS 2577—1983.

Revised and redesignated in part as AS 2577.1—1992.

PUBLISHED BY STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

(STANDARDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA)
1 THE CRESCENT, HOMEBUSH, NSW 2140
ISBN 0 7262 7485 2
 PREFACE
This Standard was prepared by the Standards Australia Committee on Reporting Fires to supersede in part,
AS 2577—1983, Collection of data on fire incidents.
Alterations to the previous edition are as follows:
(a) AS 2577 has now been split into two parts—
AS
2577 Australian fire incident reporting systems
2577.1 Part 1: Description and implementation
2577.2 Part 2: Classification and coding
(b) Adjustment of the original items has been made and the concept of variable levels of implementation has been
expanded. The levels of implementation are discussed and recommendations are made on the minimum set of
items and the degree of detail to be used for —
(i) predominantly urban areas;
(ii) mixed urban and rural areas;
(iii) predominantly rural areas; and
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(iv) predominantly forested areas.

A suggested list of core data output tables is included to assist authorities in producing information on incidents in
their area and to indicate the character of data that will be available on a national basis.
(c) Items applicable to rural and land management agencies have been added.
In preparing this Standard, the Committee considered the National Fire Incident Reporting System Handbook,
compiled by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, January 1984, and the US National Fire Protection
Association publication NFPA 901, Uniform Coding for Fire Protection, 1986; the assistance gained from these
sources is acknowledged.

CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1 SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 APPLICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 ITEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6 CLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7 IMPLEMENTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8 METHODS OF COLLECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
9 OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
10 PROCESSING OF INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
APPENDICES
A CONTENTS LIST AND EXPLANATION OF ITEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
B CHECK LIST FOR REPORT FORMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
C EXAMPLES OF THE CLASSIFICATION AND CODING OF ITEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
 3 AS 2577.1—1992

FOREWORD
The revision of AS 2577—1983, Collection of data on fire incidents, arose out of a need to provide guidance
for organizations wishing to implement the Standard. Organizations intending to implement this Standard may
find it helpful to confer with the CSIRO and other current users to gain the benefit of their experience.
The Australian fire incident reporting system (AFIRS) is broadly compatible with both the US national fire
incident reporting system (NFIRS) and the New Zealand fire incident reporting system.
AFIRS defines items of information for national comparison. Items that are considered to be of national interest
but of lesser statistical importance are included as ‘additional items’. The Standard does not preclude the
collection of other items that may be required by user organizations but items related specifically to other
emergency situations, such as rescue operations and hazardous materials incidents, require different considerations
to those of this Standard.
AFIRS provides a uniform basis for the collection and comparison of incident data and the preparation of
statistics —
(a) at various levels, e.g. regional, state, national and international; and
(b) that can be linked to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
Collection of uniform data permits the development of comprehensive databases which provide information to—
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(c) reveal the extent of fire and emergency problems;

(d) indicate problems that require action and research;
(e) assist in the development of emergency medical treatment;
(f) guide fire prevention, fire protection, hazardous materials handling; and
(g) guide effective development of codes and Standards.
Reporting authorities can be assisted in their management by the availability of valid incident data, for which
AFIRS provides a useful core. Operational aspects of management that can benefit directly from such data
include—
(h) the allocation of human and other resources;
(i) the assessment of performance;
(j) the reduction of unnecessary callouts;
(k) development of training programs;
(l) review of occupational health and safety factors;
(m) the siting of fire stations; and
(n) provision of adequate records of activity.
From the individual brigade or group standpoint, such data can assist in the —
(o) identification of specific problems in the local community;
(p) justification for human resources and equipment;
(q) assessment of injuries; and
(r) the development of operational procedures.
To gain the benefits of AFIRS, it is essential that it be an integral part of the reporting authority’s management
procedures.
Although AFIRS has been primarily designed for use by the fire services, the classification and coding system
may be useful for commerce, industry, government agencies and insurance companies. Those collecting data using
definitions and codes compatible with AFIRS will be able to share and compare information.

 Copyright STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Users of Standards are reminded that copyright subsists in all Standards Australia publications and software. Except where the Copyright Act
allows and except where provided for below no publications or software produced by Standards Australia may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from Standards Australia. Permission may be
conditional on an appropriate royalty payment. Requests for permission and information on commercial software royalties should be directed
to the head office of Standards Australia.
Standards Australia will permit up to 10 percent of the technical content pages of a Standard to be copied for use exclusively in-
house by purchasers of the Standard without payment of a royalty or advice to Standards Australia.
Standards Australia will also permit the inclusion of its copyright material in computer software programs for no royalty payment
provided such programs are used exclusively in-house by the creators of the programs.
Care should be taken to ensure that material used is from the current edition of the Standard and that it is updated whenever the Standard is
amended or revised. The number and date of the Standard should therefore be clearly identified.
The use of material in print form or in computer software programs to be used commercially, with or without payment, or in commercial
contracts is subject to the payment of a royalty. This policy may be varied by Standards Australia at any time.
 AS 2577.1—1992 4

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Australian Standard
Australian fire incident reporting system

Part 1: Description and implementation

1 SCOPE This Standard describes the Australian fire incident reporting system (AFIRS) and its
implementation. It explains and defines the subjects about which incident-related information is collected and
discusses the classification of information, methods of collection, processing and coding procedures, and
operational guidelines.
The requirements of this Standard are the minimal requirements at various levels of implementation for
national use but this does not preclude the collection of additional data required by any user organization.
AS 2577.2 sets out the classification system and coding.
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2 APPLICATION This Standard is intended primarily for the use by firefighting authorities, but it may
also be used by other organizations such as the police, forest industries and companies, in which case all
references to firefighting authorities, fire brigades and firefighters should be interpreted to include those
organizations, their groups and personnel.
AFIRS is intended to provide data suitable for comparison between reporting authorities and the aggregation
of information on a regional, state and national basis for statistical purposes. The information obtained by
the use of this Standard is not intended to be used as evidence in legal proceedings in recognition of the
limits of the time available to collect the items of information and the expertise of the reporting authority
personnel at an incident.

3 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS The following documents are referred to in this Standard:

AS
1940 SAA Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code
2484 Fire — Glossary of terms
2484.1 Part 1: Fire tests
2484.2 Part 2: Fire protection and firefighting equipment
2577 Australian fire incident reporting system
2577.2 Part 2: Classification and coding
NFIRS National Fire Incident Reporting System Handbook (Version IV, layout 1), 1/1/84.
National Fire Information Council, US Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management
Agency
Australian Standard Geographic Classification, Geographic Code List. Edition 1 Supplement.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1986
Australian Map Grid, Technical Manual. National Mapping Council of Australia, 1968.

4 DEFINITIONS For the purposes of this Standard, the definitions given in AS 2484.1, and AS 2484.2
and those below apply.
4.1 Incident — an actual or an apparently imminent occurrence of an event that endangers or threatens to
endanger the safety or health of any person, or destroys or damages or threatens to destroy or damage any
property, or any other event or alarm that results in a response by the reporting authority.
4.2 Reporting authority — an organization that responds to and reports on an incident.
4.3 Code — a numeric classification of the information about an incident.
4.4 Item — a subject about which incident-related information is collected.
5 ITEMS A list of the items appears in Table 1, grouped according to the aspect of the incident to which
they apply. Items that are not considered essential for national statistics are listed as ‘additional items’ and
are included to assist in the exchange of information between reporting authorities on a regional, state and
national basis.
The items are defined and explained in Appendix A. The information collected on these items is coded in
accordance with AS 2577.2.

COPYRIGHT
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AS 2577.1-1992, Australian fire incident reporting

system Description and implementation
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