National Fire Information Database (NFID)

Detailed information for 2005 to 2014

Status:

Active

Frequency:

One Time

Record number:

5248

The National Fire Information Database (NFID) is a pilot project with the objective of gathering ten years of microdata information on fire incidents and fire losses from provincial/territorial Fire Marshals and Fire Commissioners Offices across Canada, standardizing the data, and creating a centralized national system for the collection of fire statistics.

Data release - September 20, 2017

Description

The objective of the NFID was to develop and maintain a national database of statistical information on fire incidents, losses and casualties. The database is intended to be a census of fire incidents involving loss in Canada.

The NFID is composed of two data files - an incident file and a casualty file. The incident file contains details related (but not limited) to the date and location of fire incidents, the type of property and its characteristics, fire protection features, circumstances contributing to the outbreak, origin and spread of fire, and the discovery of fire and actions taken. The casualty file contains data on deaths and persons injured as a result of the fire incident, age, sex, the nature of the casualty, whether the person was a civilian or firefighter, cause of failure to escape, etc.

The data were collected by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) in collaboration with provincial/territorial Fire Marshals and Fire Commissioners Offices across Canada. The collection of data was from administrative records from the provincial/territorial databases.

The NFID will serve to address an important gap in existing knowledge and gaining a greater understanding of the nature and extent of fire incidents across the country. The data will also improve analytical capacities for evidence-based research related to fire incidents, public safety and security that can be used by Fire Marshals, Fire Commissioners and Chief Fire Officers and academic researchers to provide policy and operational guidance that respond to trends that are currently unable to be adequately identified. Furthermore, these data will assist fire services in making operational decisions, improving policy and prevention measures in the development of appropriate and efficient methods of fire response, and to help promote public awareness about the dangers of fire.

Reference period: January 01, 2005

Collection period: April 01, 2016 to January 01, 2017

Subjects

  • Crime and justice

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The NFID collected information only for fire incidents that came to the attention of fire services, and for which detailed information was submitted to the provincial/territorial Fire Marshals or Fire Commissioners offices across Canada.

Sampling

This survey is a census with a cross-sectional design.

Not applicable

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: January 01, 2005 to December 31, 2014

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are extracted from administrative files.

The CCJS sent out official requests for microdata via e-mail to each of the provincial/territorial Fire Marshals and Fire Commissioners offices in April 2016.

It was requested that two analytical files be extracted from each jurisdictional system - an incident file and a victim (casualty) file, according to the specifications provided. Data were submitted electronically via Statistics Canada's secure electronic file transfer (EFT) site. Additional support files and documentation such as reporting manuals and code books were also provided to the CCJS.

Follow-up was conducted via e-mail and/or telephone.

The administrative data were obtained from various databases housed in provincial Fire Commissioners/Fire Marshals Offices.

Data were obtained under s. 13 of the Statistics Act. The intended use of the data is by Fire Marshals, Fire Commissioners and Chief Fire Officers and academic researchers to provide policy and operational guidance that respond to trends that are currently unable to be adequately identified. Furthermore, these data will assist fire services in making operational decisions, improving policy and prevention measures in the development of appropriate and efficient methods of fire response, and to help promote public awareness about the dangers of fire.

Where possible, using the geographical location information provided on the files, the fire incident data were supplemented with data at the census metropolitan area and census subdivision level from the 2006 Census and 2011 National Household survey data, as well as data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Error detection

Not applicable

Imputation

Not applicable

Estimation

Not applicable

Quality evaluation

Not applicable

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

More specifically, the CCJS has a policy of not releasing any tables or cross-tabulations that may identify a particular address or victim of fire.

Names of individuals or businesses were not collected for the purpose of this pilot project.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Not applicable

Data accuracy

The NFID was intended to be a census database. Formal data quality indicators were not part of the methodology.

New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Canadian Armed Forces participated in the NFID, representing 72% of the Canadian population (July 1, 2014)

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