What's New for NERIS Schema 1.5
NERIS released version 1.5 of its reporting schema in fall 2026. It adds incident types, actions, and a handful of new fields, most of them things departments have been asking for. Command Established supports all of the additions described below.
This article covers what was added, what your department has to do (very little), and which reporting habits are worth changing now that better options exist.
What your department needs to do
Nothing to turn on. There is no setting to enable and no re-enrollment. If your department already submits to NERIS from Command Established, the new options appear in your incident form automatically.
Nothing to go back and fix. NERIS 1.5 only adds options; it does not remove any. Reports you have already submitted are still valid exactly as they are, and you do not need to re-submit them.
Every new field is optional. None of the additions will block a submission if you leave it blank. The NERIS tab on each incident still tells you what is required.
What is worth doing is telling your report writers about the new choices, because several of them replace a "closest fit" your department has probably been using. That is the rest of this article.
New incident types
These are on the Details tab under NERIS Incident Types. Search by name or browse to the group.
| New incident type | Group | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Rescue | Rescue - Water | A person or animal on or through the ice |
| Person in Water - Flood | Rescue - Water | Rescues in inland or river flooding |
| Person in Water - Tidal / Surf | Rescue - Water | Rescues in breaking waves or rip currents |
| Aviation Emergency (Alert 2) | Rescue - Transportation | An inbound aircraft reporting a serious problem, before any crash |
| Vehicle Fire - Agricultural | Fire - Transportation | Tractors, combines, balers, and other farm or forestry machines |
| Micro-Mobility Vehicle Collision | Medical - Injury | Crashes involving an e-bike, e-scooter, hoverboard, or similar |
| Human-Powered Vehicle Collision | Medical - Injury | Crashes involving a bicycle, skateboard, wheelchair, or similar |
| Water Leak / Flooding | Public Service - Citizen Assist | A leak or flooding on the private side of the water main |
| Obstruction / Debris Removal | Public Service - Citizen Assist | Trees down, non-energized wires, and other debris to clear |
Habits to update
- Stop filing ice rescues as a generic water rescue. Ice Rescue is now its own type.
- Stop filing e-bike, scooter, and bicycle crashes as motor vehicle collisions. Use the micro-mobility or human-powered type. Keep Motor Vehicle Collision for cars and trucks.
- Stop filing a tractor or combine fire as a commercial or passenger vehicle fire. Use Vehicle Fire - Agricultural.
- Stop filing "tree down" and "water in the basement" as a general service call. Obstruction / Debris Removal and Water Leak / Flooding cover the two most common ones.
- An aircraft standing by for a troubled landing is an Aviation Emergency. Aviation Standby and Aviation Collision / Crash are still there for the other cases.
New actions
These are on the Details tab under Actions Taken.
| New action | Group | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Control Utilities | Utility Control | Locating, isolating, or shutting off electricity, gas, or water |
| Ground Ladder Use | Ladders | Portable ladders raised for access, rescue, ventilation, or egress |
| Aerial Ladder Use | Ladders | An apparatus-mounted aerial used for access, rescue, or elevated streams |
| Rapid Intervention Established | Command and Control | A dedicated rapid intervention crew standing by |
| EMS Support - No Patient | Emergency Medical Care | Helping EMS on a call where your crew gave no patient care |
| Vehicle Stabilization | Hazardous Materials | Chocking, cribbing, or strutting a vehicle |
| Vehicle Electrical Disconnection | Hazardous Materials | Disconnecting a vehicle's electrical system |
| Structure Stabilization | Hazardous Materials | Shoring a damaged or collapse-prone part of a building |
| Earth Stabilization | Hazardous Materials | Shoring unstable earth such as a trench wall |
| Establish Landing Zone | Support Services | Setting up a safe landing zone for a helicopter |
Habits to update
- Record utilities and ladders. Until now there was no way to say your crew shut off the gas or threw ground ladders. Both are routine, and both are worth capturing on every call where they happen.
- Use "EMS Support - No Patient" for lift-and-carry and manpower calls. If your crew assisted an ambulance but did not assess or treat anyone, this is the accurate choice. Keep Patient Assessment and the life support actions for calls where your members provided care.
- Record landing zones. If you set one up, there is now an action for it.
Rapid intervention time
Fire incidents have a new benchmark on the tactical timeline, RIT Established, in the Command group beside Command Established and Size-up. Enter the time a rapid intervention crew was assigned and standing by.
If your department establishes RIT, record it both ways: the RIT Established time on the timeline, and the Rapid Intervention Established action under Actions Taken.
Fire details
Two new damage levels
The damage level on a structure fire, and on each exposure, has two new choices:
- Affected — superficial damage, roughly 10% of the structure or less. Typically smoke, radiant heat, or embers with no structural compromise.
- Inaccessible — the structure could not be reached to evaluate it.
Habit to update: if you have been choosing Minor Damage for a neighboring house with melted siding or light smoke, Affected is usually the better fit. And when you genuinely could not get to a structure to assess it, choose Inaccessible instead of guessing.
Fire/Explosion Investigator
Under Investigation Type(s), Fire/Explosion Investigator replaces Arson/Fire Investigator. NERIS retired the old wording because an investigation is not always an arson case.
New reports show only the new option. A report that already has Arson/Fire Investigator checked keeps it, so nothing changes on reports you have already written.
Local ordinance violations on outside fires
Outside fires have a new checkbox under Outside Fire Details: Fire violated a local ordinance (such as a burn ban).
Habit to update: check it whenever you know the fire broke a burn ban or another local ordinance. Leaving it unchecked does not tell NERIS that no ordinance was violated; it simply leaves the question unanswered. So you never have to guess, and you should only check it when you know.
Location details
New location use types
Location Use on the Basic Info tab, and on each exposure, has seven new choices:
| New location use | Group |
|---|---|
| Pool / Aquatic Facility | Assembly |
| Data Center | Commercial |
| Fitness Center / Gym | Commercial |
| Mega Warehouse / Distribution Center | Commercial |
| Greenhouse / Indoor Agriculture | Industrial |
| Automated Storage / Retrieval Facility | Industrial |
| Tidal Water | Outdoor |
Habit to update: use these when they fit. A large distribution center is no longer just a warehouse, and a commercial greenhouse is no longer a farm building.
The same choices appear anywhere else you pick a location use, including places, pre-plans, and inspection programs.
Conditions at the location
Below Location Use, next to In Use and Vacancy, there is a new set of checkboxes called Conditions at This Location:
- Short-term rental — a home or unit rented to guests for less than 30 days at a time
- Excessive fuel load — far more combustible material than the use would normally have
- Hoarding — an accumulation of materials or animals that impedes search and egress, adds weight to the structure, or raises the fire hazard
Check every one that applies. The same checkboxes appear on each exposure, so you can record a condition for a neighboring building as well as the one where the incident happened.
Habit to update: these conditions used to live only in the narrative, where nobody could count them. If a short-term rental, a heavy fuel load, or hoarding conditions shaped the call, check the box as well as describing it.
What did not change
- How you submit. The NERIS tab works the same way, with the same readiness check.
- What is required. NERIS 1.5 did not add any required fields.
- Your existing reports. Nothing already submitted needs to be reopened.
Related Articles
- NERIS Incident Reporting: A Start-to-Finish Guide — the incident form, tab by tab
- How to Enroll Command Established in NERIS — first-time NERIS setup