The Service
Incident Recording System : Frequently Asked Questions - Form, Section Three...
In this section no questions are prepopulated by our Control, however, the IRS is starting to build up a picture of the incident based on the answers already given and will start to make best guess answers.
Depending on the incident type at call it will make a judgement as to whether it was a Fire, False Alarm or Special Service call. You will need to change this virtually every time as it will assume that an AFA will be a Fire every time.
Depending on your answer to Q3.1 you will see questions appear or disappear. There are several questions that default to the most likely probability. But this does not mean that they are already answered. Chances are that they will not need changing, but please check them to ensure that they are the correct answers as they will impact on the whole system and, if not correct, may give you inappropriate answers later in the system.
No. The system will decide on whether it’s a primary or secondary fire by the answers you give.
It is normally quite clear which type of incident that you have attended. However, there can be confusion when dealing with burnt toast/food particularly when certain types of cooking may require food to be burnt as part of the cooking process i.e. flambéing. IRS offers advice within the Special Cases section of the guidance document.
A simplified version of this, which should deal with most cases, is to say that if the food/toast has been involved in flames and that there was no control over those flames then it should be recorded as a fire.
IRS always regards FIRE as the priority, a RTC which involves a fire shall be regarded as a fire.
Questions 3.1 and 3.4 uses the term malicious when dealing with false alarms. CLG have confirmed that this term is acceptable when used in conjunction with false alarms but not when relating to fires (see Fire Service Circular 21/2000 for further information).
For this question there is no drop down list as there would be too many. By clicking on ‘Select property type’ you will be taken to a new screen which resembles the explorer list on your PC where you expand and collapse folders. This works in the same way. By clicking on the + or – icons it will either open up new fields or collapse them.
Or the best way of searching is by the keyword search. If you use this way try not to be too specific, the term less is more with this search. For example entering “house” will bring back any type containing the word “house” in it i.e. warehouse, greenhouse, summerhouse or houseboat as well as the house types you would expect.
It is very important to search by clicking on the “go” button and not by hitting the enter or return keys on your PC as nothing will be returned.
Important points to remember when searching for the type of property – A refuse fire (Secondary Fire) that damages a House (Primary Fire) - The property Type will be the House. If there are a number of primary types involved record the first affected.
Be careful on the selection of "Other outdoor structures" unless applies as this will always make primary.
Incident attended |
IRS Property Type |
|---|---|
| Elderly man collapsed in his bungalow | Bungalow |
| Rubbish in a telephone kiosk | Telephone Kiosk |
| Ring Removal at Fire Station | Fire Station |
| Person on fire in the open | Heathland / Woodland etc |
| Speed Camera | Outdoor structures / Other outdoor items including road furniture |
| Fence on fire | Railings |
| Veterinary Premises | Non-residential / Hospitals and Medical care / other |
| Tree (anywhere) | Tree Scrub |
| Bin Shed (attached to property) | Describe property i.e. Flat |
| Bin Shed (detached) | Building - Non residential - Other private non residential building |
| Rubbish in the open | Other Outdoors / Loose refuse |
| Rubbish in a property | Describe property type i.e. House |
| Caretaker's flat as part of the school | School |
| Restaurant in department store | Shop |
| Vehicles on fire in a scrap yard | Outdoor structures / outdoor Storage |
| Bin fire in bin compound in block of flats | Building / Dwelling / Purpose built flat / “type of flat” |
| Pile of rubbish in a bike shed | Building - Non Residential - Other buildings/use not known |
Download a full list of property types for Q 3.2... 
662Kb
The IRS offers detailed definitions of what constitutes a House of Multiple Occupancy in the Special Cases section. A summary is:
Where a fire involves a vehicle in a building, and there is reasonable damage to the building, the significant property type will usually be the building. FDR1 allowed the details for both the vehicle and the building to be captured, IRS does not. Although IRS is not for capturing information for insurance purposes we cannot ignore the fact that interested parties may require this information. To ensure that we capture data on both property types then the following procedure should be adopted.
Details of the other property type, usually the vehicle, should be recorded in Question 10.4 – Notes, General. These details should include possible cause, description of property type, location of fire, extent of damage, vehicle registration and VIN number (where applicable) and a description of it’s effect on the significant property.
For example...
Mechanic using welding equipment caused accidental ignition to engine compartment of motor car (registration Y673HAC, VIN SFXX123456789 CC), whole vehicle was severely damaged by fire, heat and smoke. This vehicle fire became the source of the garage fire described in the rest of the form.
If any “other” option is selected from this list you will need to specify what the type of property was.
If several special services has been preformed during the incident then you should select the most resource intensive to describe here.
Incident |
IRS SSC Type |
|---|---|
| Lift release / persons already released | No Action – Service not required |
| Lift release / thought to be persons Trapped but on release no-one inside | Lift Release – no persons involved |
| Hazmat leak | Hazardous Materials (then class type) |
| Car leaking fuel | Spills and leaks – Vehicle leaking Fuel |
| Canister Exploding (no fire) | Hazardous Materials Incident – Compressed gases |
For Animal rescues, the options are limited unless rescuing from above or below ground level. For all other animal rescues, please answer with as much detail in the notes section of the Incident Summary page.
As with Q3.2 either search with a keyword and click ‘go’ or select the appropriate false alarm type and expand the list of reasons. Careful selection will be needed in some areas as the common reasons are there but hidden in illogical places. Therefore, it may be advantageous in the early stages to expand all the lists to see all of the selections before selecting.
To record a malicious breaking of a fire alarm call point or other deliberate setting off of a fire alarm system then, use MALICIOUS FALSE ALARM / BY PHONE and record the details of it being a FAM - AFA in question 10.4 (this is due to the category having been missed off – it will be corrected in a future new release of IRS)
Standbys to police situation where we take no action i.e. a suspected bomb threat that turns out to be a malicious false alarm should be recorded as false alarm – special service – not required.
If you enter ‘Other’ you will be expected to enter a reason.
Examples of reasons that may not be immediately apparent are as follows:
Reason |
IRS Reason |
|---|---|
| Malicious breakage of a call point | Malicious False Alarm by phone |
| Water entering system | Select system type then ‘other’ |
| Fault in System panel itself | Select system type then ‘other’ |
| False Alarm Malicious | FAM and select actual property type of the incident (i.e grass in school grounds would be the grass not the school) |
If there were any fatalities/casualties/rescues/extrications or certain types of releases whether HFRS assisted with the person(s) then you should select 'yes'. This will include those already released before arrival and assisted by other services.
The only exception is for Co-Responder incidents where HFRS do not ‘touch’ the casualty.
The following types of releases such as from lifts or effecting entry/exit would count as a rescue:
A ring removal would not count as a release/rescue or casualty.
This question relates to all Fires and Special Service calls.
Select 'yes' if anyone was evacuated by HFRS or by any other person or Service. This does not include any lift releases that did not meet the criteria in Q3.5.
This definition would also include self evacuations such as leaving the scene of danger, i.e. leaving a vehicle that was on fire, or after a RTC.
This question relates to Fires and Special Service incidents.
Only answer yes if you have information that the property is derelict.
Chimney fires only relate to domestic properties and do not involve more than five appliances, fatalities, casualties or rescues and are restricted to the chimney structure itself. If it has spread or involves any of the above then answer 'no'.
An ‘attack’ can include travelling to and from the incident as well as during the incident itself. However, the incident must have been attended to qualify.
‘Attacks’ include physical and verbal abuse as well as objects thrown at firefighters or appliances.
