New Reporting Mandates for Indiana Fire Services Set to Begin

As fire departments across the Whitewater Valley prepare for the 2026 calendar year, a significant new administrative requirement is taking effect. Under House Enrolled Act 1427 (HEA 1427), signed into law by Governor Mike Braun, fire service providers are now mandated to implement a rigorous semiannual reporting system to track every aspect of their emergency responses.

The law, which adds Section 147 to Indiana Code 36-8-28, is designed to provide the State Fire Marshal and the Indiana Legislative Council with a comprehensive view of how fire and EMS resources are being utilized across the state’s 92 counties.

The Specific Reporting Criteria According to the legal text of the act and a formal analysis by Frost Brown Todd, every “fire service provider”—which includes municipal departments, volunteer fire departments, and fire protection territories—must now report four specific data points for every call:

Total Run Count: The exact number of individual emergency responses initiated during the reporting window.

Apparatus Utilization: The specific number of vehicles (engines, tankers, ladder trucks, etc.) that were dispatched and participated in each response.

Incident Classification: Whether the call was for a fire, a motor vehicle accident, emergency medical services (EMS), or another type of emergency.

Extinguishment Data: For fire-related calls, a formal record of whether the fire was successfully suppressed by the responding unit.

Critical Compliance Deadlines The reporting process is strictly electronic and follows a semiannual schedule. Departments must submit their findings to the State Fire Marshal by the following dates:

• January 31: Covering all activity from July 1 through December 31 of the previous year.

• July 31: Covering all activity from January 1 through June 30 of the current year.

The State Fire Marshal is then required to consolidate this statewide data and submit it to the Indiana Legislative Council twice per year, by March 1 and September 1, respectively.

Why This Matters for Local Departments The primary intent behind this new level of scrutiny is to identify resource gaps and equipment needs. By tracking the exact number of vehicles used per call and the nature of those calls, the state aims to determine where departments are under-equipped or where local infrastructure may be hindering response times.

The Quote: “Starting July 1, 2025, all impacted entities must begin collecting this information… To prepare, fire departments and local units should ensure that there are processes in place to track fire runs, vehicle deployment, and the nature of each run,” according to the legislative summary provided by Frost Brown Todd.

For the departments serving the local areas, this law requires an immediate review of dispatch and internal tracking software to ensure that vehicle-level data is being recorded for every run. Failure to provide accurate data could impact a department’s ability to justify future funding requests or grant applications through the State Fire Marshal’s office.

Looking Ahead to 2026 The first official report under this mandate is due January 31, 2026. This report will cover the data collected during the current six-month window (July–December 2025). Local officials are encouraged to coordinate with their unit’s fiscal officers to ensure all electronic reporting channels are open and ready for the January deadline.

Sources:

• Indiana General Assembly: House Enrolled Act 1427 (2025).

• Frost Brown Todd: Government Services Practice Group Legal Update (June 2025).

• Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS): State Fire Marshal Division.