Purpose

The National Incident Feature Service (NIFS) refers to a hosted feature service using the Event Schema within NIFC’s ArcGIS Online (AGOL) instance (The NIFC Org). The NIFS is designed for use on wildland fires of any size to improve standardization and compatibility nationwide. It helps streamline data sharing, speed deployment of web and mobile applications and improve situational awareness for firefighters. Because the NIFS is available to all wildland fire personnel, regardless of agency or affiliation, data can be easily shared near-real time and at any location.

While often referred to as a single entity, the NIFS is a suite of services that are all sourced from the same underlying data. Multiple services of the same data are needed to control the different permissions and access of multiple applications and user groups. See the NIFS section of the WFIGS Hub for a description of the individual services.

Responsibilities

The NIFS must be used by all Geographic Information System Specialists (GISS). Editing the National Incident Feature Services and other hosted feature services is an essential skill for the role of a GISS. The GISS will load and manage incident data within the NIFS. Any data edits should be synchronized with the NIFS. The GISS will work with the SITL to ensure all data within the NIFS is the most accurate representation of the wildfire incident. GISS will use appropriate care when working with the NIFS to ensure no adverse impacts to other incidents using NIFS.

• Approval of features in the NIFS is the responsibility of the Situation Unit Leader (SITL). GISS should work with the SITL to ensure there is a process in place to review and approve data in the NIFS.
• The NIFS is a shared service, users with the GISS role will be able to view/edit all records on the service, including adjacent fires. It is critical that the GISS only edit data for the incident to which they are assigned.

Access

An account in the NIFC ArcGIS Online Organization (NIFC Org) is required for editing the NIFS. Within the NIFC Org, the NIFS can be found within the Incident Resources group.

The appropriate layers have also been added and configured into web map templates to streamline setup and distribution to field personnel. The templates should be the starting point for most users.

Incident Resources Group (required login to NIFC ArcGIS Online Organization)

Training Resources Group (includes training equivalents to all resources in the Incident Resources Group. Required login to NIFC ArcGIS Online Organization)

Request a NIFC Org Account on the NIFC Support Hub

Archive

The National Incident Feature Services (NIFS) has an archive function to track and store any edits made to the NIFS. The Archive Service can be found in the Incident Resources Group (required login to NIFC ArcGIS Online Organization).

The Archive functions as follows:

• The NIFS Archive Service is hosted in the NIFC Org for ease of access.
• Whenever a record is added or updated in the NIFS, a copy of the record is added to the NIFS Archive. In this way, an entire edit history of the records in the NIFS is preserved.
• The fields GDB_FROM_DATE and GDB_TO_DATE in the Archive Service designate the date range in which that state of the feature existed in the NIFS.
• The Archive can be used to recover deleted data.
• The Archive should not be used as a backup.
• All NIFC Org users can see all records in the service.
• At the end of each calendar year, the archive is exported to an annual archive which can be downloaded from the NIFC Open Data Site. Sensitive data and editor information is removed.

Public Perimeters

With the retirement of the GeoMAC website for data hosting and public data distribution in 2019, another method of delivering incident geospatial information to the public was needed. The Wildland Fire Interagency Geospatial Service (WFIGS) Group provides authoritative geospatial data products under the interagency Wildland Fire Data Program. Hosted in the NIFC Org, WFIGS provides both internal and public-facing data, accessible in a variety of formats.

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) “Open Data” site creates a publicly accessible, searchable website for data sharing authoritative data.

Fire perimeters from the NIFS Event Polygon layer are automatically harvested by WFIGS processes for inclusion in the public Interagency Fire Perimeters service if the following conditions are met:

• IRWINID is a valid IRWIN ID.
• FeatureAccess = Public
• FeaturesStatus = Approved
• IsVisible = Yes
• The perimeter is a single (multipart if needed) polygon. If a perimeter consists of multiple polygons, only the most recently edited portion will be captured by WFIGS.

Using the correct IRWIN ID is critical to this process. When managing multiple incidents or a Complex, each perimeter must use its own individual IRWIN ID. Never use a Complex’s IRWIN ID.