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Reporting a fire: guidelines, manuals and forms

Last updated on December 10, 2024

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Reporting a fire

Report a fire incident in the Fire Inventory Reporting Evaluation System (FIRES).

Login to the FIRE system

FIRE System training videos

These training videos will help users learn how to submit fire incident reports. 

To be alerted to future training videos, subscribe to stay updated.

Past webinar recordings and slides

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Reporting using the FIRE system

Date: December 6, 2023

OFC Fire Reporting Training Webinar

Subject: To learn how to use the fire incident reporting (FIRE) system, please watch the video above. Additionally, the presentation slides are available for download below.

 Download slides (PDF, 4.88MB)

Reporting guidelines

All fires that cause damage to property, injuries or fatalities, or which require fire department resources to suppress must be reported. Examples include:

Structure fires

  • Buildings
  • Piers
  • Decks and patios
  • Parkades and covered parking lots

Vehicle fires

  • Cars and trucks
  • Trains
  • Boats
  • Planes
  • All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) 
  • Recreational vehicles (RVs)

Outdoor fires

  • Dumpsters
  • Playground equipment
  • Telephone/hydro poles
  • Grass
  • Bark mulch

For help using the FIRE system, see the FIRES User Quick Reference Guide (PDF, 1.4 MB).

For clarification on these definitions, contact the Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) at OFC@gov.bc.ca.

Reporting timelines

Investigation into a fire must start within five days of the incident, excluding holidays. The fire report must be submitted to the OFC within 30 days after an investigation is completed.

Reportable and non-reportable events

Reportable events

Fires are reportable if there is extensive smoke or heat damage and a fire department’s assistance is required to clear the smoke.

Examples include:

  • Outdoor dumpster fires
  • Fires that were extinguished before the fire department arrived, as firefighters will check for hotspots, determine the cause of the fire and report it
  • Unattended fires including backyard, camp, and beach fires
  • Grass, landscape and bark mulch fires
  • Any other type of outdoor fire that has spread or gone out of control, whether it is attended or unattended

Events that don't need to be reported

Examples include:

  • False alarms
  • Explosions of ammunition, steam boilers, hot water tanks or other pressure vessels due to internal pressure, not internal combustion

Exposure fires

An exposure fire is defined as a fire or damage that occurs as a direct consequence of another fire originating in a completely detached segregated building, structure, facility, vehicle or outside an open area.

Exposure fires require separate fire reports.

Glossary of terms

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Casualty (injury or fatality)

A casualty is each person who suffers a fire related injury or fatality.

A casualty fire report must be completed for each person who suffers a fire-related injury or fatality. The report is to be completed and submitted in conjunction with the related fire report. 

 

Fire

A fire is any instance of destructive and uncontrolled burning. Fire does not include the following, except where they cause fire or occur because of fire:

  1. Lightning or electrical discharge.
  2. Explosions of steam boilers, hot water tanks or other pressure vessels due to internal pressure and not to internal combustion.
  3. Explosions of ammunition or other detonating material.
  4. Accidents involving ships, aircraft, or other vehicles.
  5. Overheat condition. The alteration of material by heat without self-sustained combustion. Removal of the heat source will stop the alteration process. It may also be described as the stage before ignition. Examples include discoloration of a countertop caused by a hot cooking pot or browning of a wall surface by heat from a free-standing space heater or an adjacent flue pipe.
 

Property loss

Property loss by fire is the cost of the actual damage to property. Only direct losses from fire, smoke or damages associated with firefighting operations are to be included. Costs of “good will” or loss of sales and other losses due to interruption of a business or vacating a home are specifically and strictly excluded.

Damages to or destruction of buildings and installed equipment and contents are estimated and reported at their replacement value.

 

Property value at risk

This refers to the estimated cash value of the property, including its contents. It doesn't include the value of the land that the structure resides on.

Fire reporting manual

The manual provides information needed to meet fire reporting requirements under the Fire Safety Act by providing:

  • Guidance in entering required information on fire incidents
  • Data codes for fire loss reporting
  • Location codes for reporting within a jurisdiction

Manual:

Fire reporting forms and location codes

To assist in completing your report, the OFC provides PDF forms with accompanying instructions, location code directories and a breakdown of the code structure with definitions.

Reporting forms and instructions

Additional names form

Casualty form

Product/equipment form

Outdoor fire form

Person form

Structure form

Vehicle form

Youth Firesetter form

Location code directories

Insurance reporting information

On August 1, 2024, the new Fire Safety Act came into effect replacing the Fire Services Act. With the new act in place, insurance companies are no longer legislated to report on fire losses as they were under the Fire Services Act section 19. However, insurance companies continue to be valued partners in ensuring accurate data from fire incident claims to help evaluate fire loss, economic impacts and fire trends in our province. Insurance reports also help ensure accuracy in fire incident reporting from local governments. In late fall 2024, the Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) will contact the insurance sector about the continuation of the insurance reporting process. Until then, please continue to report on fire losses through the insurance fire report form below.