NWCG Data Standards, PMS 910

NWCG data standards (data element and geospatial data layer) provide specifications that enable the common usage of data across wildland fire information systems. For more information login to EDG Explorer.

NWCG Data Standards

EDG Explorer is a database platform used for managing NWCG Data Standards. The following Data Standards and Geospatial Data Layer tables offer a quick view of the standards.

More detailed information such as rules, documentation, and term relationships may be viewed in EDG Explorer. Expand Data Standards or Geospatial Data Layer Standards below to see data standards term descriptions and status.

Note: If the NWCG Data Standards View is not displaying below please report it to NWCG Webmaster.

Title	Steward	Status	Description
ABCD Miscellaneous Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee, IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	A FireCode used by the USDA Forest Service to track and compile cost information for emergency initial attack fire suppression expenditures. For A, B, C, & D size class fires on Forest Service lands.
ADS Permission State Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Grandfathered	Indicates the permission hierarchy that is currently being applied when a system utilizes the Update Incident operation.
Apparatus Number Data Standard	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Grandfathered	The external alphanumeric value painted on the side of the equipment.
Capacity Data Standard	IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee	Approved	The capacity in which the overhead resource is qualified to perform a position. May also be used to define how the resource performed on a specific incident. In both cases the capacity is defined as “trainee” or “qualified”.
Cost Data Standard	IBC Incident Business Committee	Grandfathered	A standard for the dollar amount associated with an incident.
Country Code Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	This standard adopts the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard for two-letter country codes.
Country Subdivision Code Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	This standard adopts the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard for country subdivision codes of up to three alpha-numeric characters. This standard replaces the NWCG State Code standard.
County Code Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	This standard adopts the Federal Information Process Standards (FIPS) publication 6-4 for representation of counties and equivalent entities as a three-digit code. [validated: 4/20/2009]
Created By System Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	Username of system that created the record.
Created On Date Time Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	Date/time that the record was created.
Date Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	This data standard specifies a standard format for calendar date. [validated: 7/30/2002]
Date-Time Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	The combination of date and time elements.
Detection Method Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Grandfathered	The method by which the fire was detected.
Employment Category Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	The type of employment appointment or agreement under which a person is hired. [validated: 5/6/2004]
Estimated Containment Date Data Standard	PSOG National Predictive Services Oversight Group	Approved	Create a data standard to describe the data element for estimated date a wildfire will be contained.
Estimated Costs to Date Data Standard	IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	Estimated total incident costs to date for the entire incident based on currently available information. Costs include estimates for all costs for the response including management and support activities.
Evaluation Comments Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Text description of the evaluator’s comments.
Evaluation Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	A description of how the resource performed on an incident. The evaluation is focused on the specific capacity the resource was required to perform.
Evaluation Timestamp Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	The date/time the trainee experience was evaluated.
Event Kind & Category Data Standard	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	This data standard specifies general, high-level codes and descriptions to be used in categorizing the types of incidents and planned events to which the interagency wildland fire community responds
Experience From Date Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	The date and time when the Experience began.
Experience To Date Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	The date and time when the Experience ended.
Final Fire Acre Quantity Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard format and definition for the measure of acres within the final perimeter of a fire. [validated: 7/11/2008]
Fire Containment Date & Time Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This standard provides a standard format and definition for the date and time a wildfire was declared contained.
Fire Control Date & Time Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This standard provides a standard format and definition for the date and time a wildfire was declared under control. [validated: 6/16/2008]
Fire Discovery Date & Time Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard format and definition for the date and time a fire was discovered or confirmed to exist. [validated: 4/10/2008]
Fire Initial Action Date & Time Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard format and definition for the date and time that initial action was taken by the first resources to arrive at a fire. [validated: 4/10/2008]
Fire Out Date & Time Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard format and definition for the date and time when a fire is declared "out". [validated: 6/16/2008]
Fire Report Approver Name Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard format and definition for the name of the person that approved the fire report. [validated: 4/10/2008]
Fire Report Provider Name Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard format and definition for the name of the person that provided the data for the fire report. [validated: 4/10/2008]
Fire Reporting Agency Unit Identifier Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard adopts the NWCG Unit Identifier data standard to identify the agency preparing a fire report. [validated: 4/10/2008]
Fire Resource Kind, Category & Type Data Standard	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, ETC Equipment Technology Committee, NCSC National Coordination System Committee, IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee	Approved	This data standard provides standard formats and definitions for a three-tier classification (kind and type) of operational resources available to respond to a fire. [validated: 8/15/2008]
Fire Resource Status Data Standard	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	Indicates if the resource record being submitted or updated is an initial response resource or daily resource record.
Fire Size Class Data Standard	FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard code and definition for classifying a fire into one of several ranges of fire size based on the number of acres within the final fire perimeter. [validated: 12/17/2012]
FireCode Data Standard	IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	This data standard specifies the standard format and rules for FireCode, a code used within the interagency wildland fire community to track and compile cost information for emergency fire suppression expenditures. [validated: 5/18/2005]
First Name Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Approved	The first name of the resource as it appears on a government issued ID. Applies only to overhead resources.
Fitness Level Data Standard	IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee	Approved	A code that indicates the fitness level of a human resource.
Forest Service Assisted Indicator Data Standard	IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	Indicates if the Forest Service provided assistance on an incident outside their jurisdiction.
Forest Service Job Code Data Standard	IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	A code used to indicate the Forest Service job accounting code for the incident. This is specific to the Forest Service, and is usually displayed as two-character prefix on the FireCode.
Forest Service Override Code Data Standard	IBC Incident Business Committee	Approved	A code used to indicate the Forest Service override code for the incident. This is specific to the Forest Service, and is usually displayed as a four-character suffix on FireCode.
Frequency Use Designator Data Standard	RSUSC Wildland Fire Radio Standards and Use Committee	Approved	This data standard provides a standard list of designators for the kind of communications that will occur on an assigned radio frequency. [validated: 3/8/2004]
Fulfillment Comment Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Communication about the request and fulfilling that request.
Fulfillment Status Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	Indicates the state of the request.
General Status Data Standard	IPSC Incident and Position Standards Committee	Approved	Indicates whether the resource is available or unavailable to fill a capability request.
Geographic Area (GA) Code & Name Data Standard	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	This data standard provides a code and name for each of the wildland fire geographic areas. [validated: 2/16/2006]
Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC) Code & Name Data Standard	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	This data standard provides a code and name for each of the wildland fire geographic area coordination centers. [validated: 5/21/2015]
Geographic Coordinating Area (GCA) Code & Name Data Standard	NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	This data standard provides a code and name for each of the wildland fire geographic coordinating areas. [validated: 5/21/2015]
GUID Data Standard	DMC Data Management Committee	Grandfathered	A standard describing a globally unique identifier for unique identification.
Home Dispatch Unit Data Standard	IOSC Incident Operations Subcommittee	Approved	The NWCG Unit Identifier of the center primarily responsible for dispatching the resource.
Horizontal Datum Code Data Standard	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	This data standard provides a code and name for each of the point coordinate reference systems used within the interagency wildland fire community. [validated: 12/17/2012]

Note: If the NWCG Geospatial Data Layer View is not displaying below please report it to NWCG Webmaster.

Data Standard Title	Steward	Status	Description
Aviation Activity Point	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	This layer captures activities that may present a hazard to pilots during aviation operations.
Aviation Activity Polygon	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	This layer captures activities that may present a hazard to pilots during aviation operations.
Aviation Obstruction Line	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	This layer captures physical features that may present a hazard to pilots during aviation operations. Generally speaking these are permanent features.
Aviation Obstruction Point	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	This layer captures physical features that may present a hazard to pilots during aviation operations. Generally speaking these are permanent features.
Aviation Obstruction Polygon	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	This layer captures physical features that may present a hazard to pilots during aviation operations. Generally speaking these are permanent features.
Fire Danger Rating Areas	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, FDSC Fire Danger Subcommittee	In Development
Fire Restrictions Polygon	CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	This geospatial layer depicts areas where measures have been taken by jurisdictional agencies to impose bans and standards of use on certain human activities that could lead to the cause of wildland fire. These rules are called fire restrictions.
Fuels Treatments Polygon	CEPC Communication, Education, and Prevention Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	The Fuels Treatments (polygon) data layer represents the area(s) of unique fuels treatments during a single timeframe. Each treatment may be made up of multiple polgons.
Geographic Area Coordination Center Boundaries Polygon	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	Geographic boundary polygons depicting the administrative area of the Geographic Area Coordination Centers
Initial Attack Frequency Zone Polygon	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	Polygons depicting areas in which FAA/DOI/USDA annually assign initial attack frequencies for incident needs.
Jurisdictional Unit Polygon	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	This geospatial layer depicts areas of wildland fire jurisdiction to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Unit level. Jurisdictional Unit is defined by NWCG as "The governmental entity having overall land and resource management responsibility for a specific geographical area as provided by law."
Potential Operational Delineations Line	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, IFPC Interagency Fire Planning Committee	Approved	This geospatial layer depicts linear potential control features that may form wildland fire potential operational delineation polygon boundaries.
Predictive Services Area Boundaries Polygon	PSOG National Predictive Services Oversight Group, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, FRSC Fire Reporting Subcommittee	Approved	Geographic boundary polygons depicting the extent of the Predictive Services Area Boundary
Resource Tracking Points	NIAC National Interagency Aviation Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, ETC Equipment Technology Committee, NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	This geospatial layer displays the real-time location of wildland fire resources.
Water Source	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	The Engine Water Sources data standard includes definition of a point feature class for storing information in support of fire-related operations. This layer provides information about the locations, capacity, type, etc. of water sources that may be used for firefighting purposes.
Wildland Fire Dispatch Area Boundaries Polygon	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved	Geographic boundary polygons depicting the administrative area of the Wildland fire Dispatch Areas
Wildland Fire Dispatch Office Location Point	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee, NCSC National Coordination System Committee	Approved
Wildland Fire Event Line	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	The Wildland Fire Event Line data standard will define the minimum attributes necessary for collection, storage and dissemination of incident based data on wildland fires (wildfires and prescribed fires). The standard is not intended for long term data storage, rather a standard to assist in the creation of incident based data management tools, minimum standards for data exchange, and to assist users in meeting NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936, guidance on incidents.
Wildland Fire Event Line (Dev)	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	In Development	The Wildland Fire Event Line data standard will define the minimum attributes necessary for collection, storage and dissemination of incident based data on wildland fires (wildfires and prescribed fires). The standard is not intended for long term data storage, rather a standard to assist in the creation of incident based data management tools, minimum standards for data exchange, and to assist users in meeting NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936, guidance on incidents.
Wildland Fire Event Point	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	The Wildland Fire Event Point data standard will define the minimum attributes necessary for collection, storage and dissemination of incident based data on wildland fires (wildfires and prescribed fires). The standard is not intended for long term data storage, rather a standard to assist in the creation of incident based data management tools, minimum standards for data exchange, and to assist users in meeting NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936, guidance on incidents.
Wildland Fire Event Point	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	In Development	The Wildland Fire Event Point data standard will define the minimum attributes necessary for collection, storage and dissemination of incident based data on wildland fires (wildfires and prescribed fires). The standard is not intended for long term data storage, rather a standard to assist in the creation of incident based data management tools, minimum standards for data exchange, and to assist users in meeting NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936, guidance on incidents.
Wildland Fire Event Polygon	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	In Development	The Wildland Fire Event Polygon data standard will define the minimum attributes necessary for collection, storage and dissemination of incident based data on wildland fires (wildfires and prescribed fires). The standard is not intended for long term data storage, rather a standard to assist in the creation of incident based data management tools, minimum standards for data exchange, and to assist users in meeting NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936, guidance on incidents.
Wildland Fire Event Polygon	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	The Wildland Fire Event Polygon data standard will define the minimum attributes necessary for collection, storage and dissemination of incident based data on wildland fires (wildfires and prescribed fires). The standard is not intended for long term data storage, rather a standard to assist in the creation of incident based data management tools, minimum standards for data exchange, and to assist users in meeting NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936, guidance on incidents.
Wildland Fire Locations Point	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	Wildland Fire Location Points represent the final spatial locations of the fire occurrences. Fire occurrences represent the ignition points (preferred), the polygon centroids, or more generalized locations (least desirable) when the ignition points are not known or not available.
Wildland Fire Perimeters Polygon	GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	Wildland Fire Perimeter Polygons geospatial data layer standard provides the standard template for exchange/transfer of wildland fire perimeter polygons, representing the daily and final perimeters for wildfires and prescribed fires. Replaces the Fire History (polygons) geospatial data layer standard (archived) and incorporates the Daily Fire Perimeter geospatial data layer standard
Wildland Urban Interface Polygon	WUIMC Wildland Urban Interface Mitigation Committee, GSC Geospatial Subcommittee	Approved	The wildland urban interface (WUI) geospatial data standard defines minimum attribution for interagency collaboration and data sharing.

Comment on a proposed data standard

When a new or revised data standard is ready for review and comment, it will have a status of Proposed. Submit your feedback to the Data Standards and Terminology Board.

Request for a new or revised standard

Requests for the development of a new data standard, or for changes to a current standard, may be submitted on a Request form.

Download the User Guide and other reference materials

The User Guide for Development and Maintenance of NWCG Data Standards, PMS 938, explains the processes for developing and maintaining both NWCG data element and geospatial data layer standards.

Last Modified / Reviewed: May 09, 2025

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ETC Equipment Bulletin: 25-003 Flame-Resistant Shirt Survey

Date: June 12, 2025
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The U.S. Forest Service National Technology and Development Program (NTDP) is seeking input on the Forest Service-designed flame-resistant (FR) shirt, currently available through the National Interagency Support Cache system and FedMall.

NTDP is conducting a product review to improve future FR shirt designs. As part of this effort, a short survey is now open for federal employees who have worn any of three recent FR shirt models. Feedback will guide design improvements to better meet the needs of wildland firefighters.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act, responses are limited to federal employees. The survey is open through September 12, 2025.

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The S-130, Firefighter Training (Blended), equips new wildland firefighters with essential skills through a mix of online learning and hands-on training. The course features a required online component and an instructor-led exercise, reinforcing online concepts with practical performance-based training.

The course builds competencies in wildland fire operations, safety, and equipment use, applicable across various operational environments. Both the online component and instructor-led field exercise must be completed to receive a certificate of completion. Students are required to finish the prerequisite S-190, Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior, before enrolling in S-130, Firefighter Training (Blended).

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Date: June 3, 2025
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The Emergency Medical Committee has issued interim guidance for Rapid Extraction Module Support (REMS) teams. Until further notice, Type I and II REMS teams must designate a team leader qualified at Firefighter Type 1 Squad Boss (FFT1) or higher. This temporary change replaces the Single Resource Boss (SRB) requirement, which is currently not feasible due to administrative barriers.

This memorandum does not include any other changes to the NWCG Standards for Rapid Extraction Module Support, PMS 552. This interim change takes effect immediately and will remain in place until further notice.

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Equipment Bulletin 25-002: Chaps, Chain Saw, M-2020, Nonconformities Affecting Use, Appearance, and Serviceability

Date: June 2, 2025
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The Equipment Technology Committee issued Equipment Bulletin: 25-002 to address a manufacturing nonconformity affecting Forest Service specification, 6170-4K Chain Saw Chaps. The issue applies to chaps manufactured in 2024 and 2025 and distributed through FedMall. These chaps may have incorrectly bound edges that expose inner protective layers.

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