About the Data
The data records in the National Database are a collection of ‘AIRS’ incident reports collected by the individual contributing fire services. An AIRS report is generated whenever a participating fire brigade resource responds to an incident.
AIRS (Australian Incident Reporting System) is a nationally agreed data standard which takes a systematic approach to collecting, recording and reporting information about responses to incidents and emergencies attended primarily by fire services. It provides a standard for the structure, definitions and integrity of the data collected.
There are ten blocks of data in the standard.
- Block A - Complete for all incidents - New Version Released
- Block B - Automatic fire alarms
- Block C - Hazardous materials incidents
- Block D - Casualties, rescue and evacuation
- Block E - Ignition (all fires)
- Block F - Fire fighting
- Block G - Wildfires (grass, bush and forest)
- Block H - Dollar loss fires
- Block I - Mobile property details
- Block J - Structure fires
Not all of the contributing fire and emergency services collect all of the data because each fire service has different legislated roles and responsibilities, environments and history of reporting and therefore have developed processes relevant to their specific contexts.
Core Data
The full AIRS Standard contains a significant number of data sets that could be collected by agencies. Whilst not all agencies collect every data item contained in the standard, there is agreement however that a minimum core set of data will be collected by all contributing agencies and aggregated nationally.
Data Limitations
The data available on responses to fires and emergencies in Australia do not represent 100 percent coverage of fires occurring within Australia. This is because:
- A significant number of fires (usually causing only minor property damage) are never reported to fire services and therefore no AIRS report is generated.
- Not all Australian fire services contribute to the national database, and of the fire services that have contributed, some have not included responses from the rural component of their service.
Some anomalies in the data exist due to separate development of the reporting systems by each fire service.
It is not required that AIRS reports be supported by irrefutable evidence. The reporting fire-fighter or the officer in charge is expected to apply reasonable judgment based upon investigations and information available at the time of the incident. For example: estimated dollar loss and property value is the opinion of the fire-fighter making the report not a formal insurance assessment.
AIRS originated in the urban fire brigades and still has greatest applicability to the urban and combination urban/rural fire services (see also risk management research at the urban interface). It does not currently cater for AFAC’s land management, aviation firefighting and State/Territory Emergency Service members, however activities are occurring that will see these agencies progressively contribute to the national database.
AIRS was designed for collection of incident response data. AFAC members have acknowledged the need for national statistical information on the full range of emergency management activities undertaken including prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Whilst many agencies have a range of reporting mechanisms covering aspects of these aspects, for example community education and fire prevention activity reporting, there is currently no national standard for reporting on these activities or national repository for this data. NSW Fire Brigades is currently leading two projects that will begin to address this gap.
