After a fire, you may well be asked for the fire department’s report. Insurers may ask for it, landlords and lenders may ask for it, and you may want it yourself to understand what happened. In New York City the fire department keeps several kinds of record, and the way to request them changed in 2025. This article explains which FDNY fire report you probably need and how to ask for it.
NYC Fire Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving New York City, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them. It has no access to fire department records and cannot request them for you.
The three kinds of record
| Record | What it is | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Incident Report | The details of the fire department’s response to an incident. | The record of the response to your fire itself. |
| Fire Incidents Special Report | A list of all incident reports for a property. | There is a $10 fee for each year searched. |
| Fire Marshal Investigation Report | The report of a Fire Marshal’s investigation into a fire. | The Bureau of Fire Investigation typically investigates only complex, fatal and suspicious fires, so many fires have none. |
These descriptions come from the city’s 311 article on Fire Incident and Investigation Records and from FDNY’s Records Requests page. If you are not sure which you need, ask whoever is asking you for it: an insurer will usually say which record it wants.
How to request an FDNY fire report
FDNY’s Records Requests page says that since February 18, 2025, paper request forms are no longer accepted. Fire Incident Reports and Fire Marshal Investigation Reports must be requested online through NYC OpenRecords, the city’s system for Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests. FOIL requests are not accepted by mail or email.
- Go to NYC OpenRecords, the city’s online FOIL portal, and start a request to the Fire Department.
- Say which record you want: the Fire Incident Report, the Fire Marshal Investigation Report, or the Fire Incidents Special Report for the property.
- Give what identifies the fire: the full address including the apartment number, the date and roughly the time.
- Say why you need it if the form asks, for example an insurance claim.
- Watch for the reply. For the Special Report, FDNY’s page says a cost letter is sent and the records are provided once it is paid.
Paper forms no longer work
Older guides, including some still online, tell people to mail a form or send it by email. FDNY’s page says paper request forms have not been accepted since February 18, 2025, and FOIL requests are not accepted by mail or email.
While you wait for the report
Do not hold up everything else for the report. NYC Emergency Management advises that if you are insured, you contact your insurer for detailed instructions on protecting the property, conducting the inventory and contacting fire damage restoration companies, and that you make an inventory before throwing any damaged goods away. Tell your insurer the report has been requested and when. Keep your own record as well: photographs of every room, a written list of damaged items and copies of any vacate order or notice posted on the building.
Who else investigates
The fire department is not the only agency that writes things down after a fire. According to the City Council’s Residential Fire Emergency Response Guide, once a fire is out, Fire Marshals inspect to determine the cause, DOB assesses the building’s structure and may issue a vacate order, and HPD inspects units for habitability and may issue one too. If an order was issued, its paperwork is part of your record as well, and DOB lets you follow a building’s permit filings in DOB NOW or BIS.
After the paperwork
With the report requested and the inventory made, the work on the home can be planned. The guide to fire damage cleanup NYC sets out the order of the cleanup, and what to do after a fire in NYC covers housing help and the first week. If you would like an independent local restoration provider to look at the damage, send the request form. Asking is free and you never have to hire anyone.
Questions people ask
How do I get a fire report in NYC?
Request it online through NYC OpenRecords. FDNY’s page says paper forms have not been accepted since February 18, 2025, and FOIL requests are not accepted by mail or email.
Does an FDNY fire report cost anything?
FDNY’s page gives a $10 fee for each year searched for the Fire Incidents Special Report, with a cost letter sent before records are provided. Check the page for current terms on other records.
Why is there no Fire Marshal report for my fire?
According to NYC311, the Bureau of Fire Investigation typically investigates only complex, fatal and suspicious fires, so many fires have no Fire Marshal Investigation Report.
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