When firefighters arrive at a fire scene, they typically rely on their own experiences, collective knowledge, and broad construction principles to assess the condition of the building and plan their response strategies.
However, modern buildings are becoming increasingly complex and tailored to individual needs, with new fire suppression systems, specific materials, and various layout designs at engineers' disposal. Design considerations often include factors such as reinforced walls or multiple locking mechanisms on doors.
Moreover, modern properties frequently undergo significant transformations over time, making it uncommon for facility managers to remain in one location throughout their careers.
As a result, the intricate understanding of materials, layout, and access points can be lost when properties are renovated and sold. In many cases, the local fire department assumes the role of "expert" regarding the history of different homes in the town.
To effectively navigate these complexities and enhance response strategies, firefighters can utilize advanced fire pre-plan software.
As cities expand and historic structures are encroached upon, unique challenges arise. Narrow streets, heavy traffic, and security measures like iron gates and walls can make it challenging for fire vehicles to reach the site of a fire.
6 Best Fire Pre Plan Software in 2024
Here’s a complete drill-down of the best fire pre plan programs for you to get started with.
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1. Xenia - Overall No. 1 & Best Fire Pre Plan Software
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Speed up the data collection and tactical pre-incident plans creation of by doing more in less time with Xenia. No need to sift through piles of paperwork or locate cumbersome PDFs for relevant information.
With our preeminent software platform for pre-incident planning, emergency services personnel can view all pre-plan data and information – including fire hydrant and FDC locations, building layout and floor plans, lock box location, building occupancy, emergency exits, hazmat locations and on-site photos – with a simple tap.
Xenia's user-friendly interface allows for the creation of customizable fire incident templates and forms, enabling workers to report incidents.
Moreover, users can effortlessly generate standardized operating procedures and policies using AI assistance, ensuring the establishment of clear and effective protocols for fire prevention and response.
One of Xenia's key features is its ability to automates the scheduling process, ensuring that critical activities are routinely completed on schedule. By creating proactive schedules, Xenia enables firms to keep ahead of fire safety regulations, lowering the chance of accidents and improving overall preparation.
Key Features
- Pre-built Checklists: For pre-fire planning, choose from a multitude of pre-built checklists to conduct comprehensive inspections on your fire alarms, ensuring compliance with standards like NPFA and OSHA.
- Corrective Actions: Utilizing structured protocols to address identified irregularities or deviations detected during inspections, including tasks such as repairing equipment malfunctions or mitigating safety hazards
- Scheduled Work: Establish automated recurring schedules tailored specifically to essential fire safety tasks, encompassing routine equipment maintenance, scheduled fire drills, and systematic inspections.
- Incident Logs: Ensure accurate data input, tracking, and reporting, mitigating costly errors and maintaining precision across your reports via mobile reporting, remedial actions, and live progress monitoring.
Pricing
- Free Forever: 14-day free trial for up to 5 users
- Starter: $99 / month for 15 users
- Premium: $99 / month for 15 users with access to all core features
- Custom: Need something tailored to your organization?
Available for up to 5 users
Premium for $99/month for the first 20 users (with free trial period)
Available on iOS, Android and Web
2. First Due
First Due is dedicated to ensuring the protection of life by providing fire and EMS personnel with the best pre-planning solution.
In this Pre-Plan Organizer, you can easily manage your pre-plans by creating tasks, creating timetables, and altering cycles to meet your operational demands.
Responders can make better, more proactive decisions with the help of our platform's extensive data, which gives them access to important property information.
Improve prevention-focused workflows with First Due's cutting-edge features, which allow for seamless integration of pre-planning into fire inspection procedures, resulting in unmatched efficiency and safety.
Key Features
- Access the Emergency Response Guide with a single click and get comprehensive information on the location and amount of on-site hazardous chemicals, including 704 details.
- First Due's user-friendly dropdown menus allow your staff to compile all the necessary data for each occupancy.
- Access thorough pre-plan units that detail the building's essential structural components, features, and access points.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
3. FireScene
FireScene isn't just another fire pre-plan software – it's the ultimate solution tailored to firefighters' unique needs. With seamlessly designed features, an interface so intuitive it feels like second nature, and mapping tools that make pre-planning a breeze.
But what truly sets FireScene apart is how seamlessly it integrates into your workflows, making fire pre-planning more thorough and convenient.
It is an all-in-one solution for field diagramming and reporting, designed to simplify facility documentation, evidence collection, and operational management.
Key Features
- To better equip your workers to handle emergencies, construct and get access to thorough pre-plan units that detail the building's essential structural components, features, and access points.
- The data gathered by fire investigation best fire pre plan software is fed into other systems for more control over data.
- Print finished diagrams at any scale and on any size paper supported by your printer
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
4. Station Boss
When it comes to preplanning, this fire pre-plan software is a game-changer. It offers a one-stop solution for mapping and documenting important facts for every place in your fire district.
Its user-friendly mapping tools allow you to precisely display roadways, building footprints, and danger zones like chemical storage locations. By doing so, you'll be able to compile a detailed inventory of properties, which will be invaluable in case of an emergency.
To help you to effectively prepare a response, Boss Station also lets you comprehend the arrangement of utilities and hydrants.
Marking utilities like gas meters and keeping tabs on the locations of nearby hydrants gives your department the information it needs to quickly access resources in an emergency.
Key Features
- Use the SMS or mobile app dispatch alerts to be alerted of deployments in seconds, not minutes.
- Time spent keying in incident reports may be significantly reduced with our NFIRS 5.0 Incident Reporting functionality.
- Arrange for regular, prearranged maintenance with the station supervisor. Equipment checkups and fuel records are also easily tracked.
Pricing
- Rookie: $100 per month
- Lieutenant: $150 per month
- Captain: $250 per month
- Chief: $300 per month
5. APX Data
Say goodbye to the trouble of sifting through PDFs to find important information and hello to APX. A quick tap gives first responders and fire departments easy access to all pre-plan data, including critical details.
APX's form-based approach streamlines the process of creating NFPA-compliant plans, improving both the quality and quantity of your pre-plans.
Reduce operating expenses, simplify and streamline operations, and help keep communities and firefighters safe by recognizing possible dangers and risks during emergency responses.
Key Features
- Look at the location, size, fire flow, closest hydrants, and other important details for almost every structure in your response area.
- Accessible from any device in your department, your pre-plan can be quickly and easily created with the help of actionable data collected on the go.
- Users can submit their reports whenever and wherever they choose thanks to this user-friendly approach that makes the process straightforward.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
6. FireQ
FireQ's powerful two-part solution, which includes a desktop computer and a mobile app, completely revlutionizes fire management when it comes to managing records and emergency communication for fire departments in North America.
By improving current dispatch systems and giving crucial insights into responders' availability and expected arrival times, FireQ equips fire agencies with rapid-response verification during crises.
Firefighters have immediate access to critical information thanks to the desktop software's effective data collection and administration features, including inventory management, and the smartphone app's real-time communication capabilities.
To assist firefighters remain prepared for situations, FireQ provides preparation tools like pre-plans, which are designed to complement their current workflows. Its ability to communicate on several levels, including with fire departments via SMS alerts, allows for the smooth flow of information during emergencies.
Key Features
- View important information on almost every building in your response area, including its location, size, fire flow, and the closest hydrants, among other crucial factors.
- Make your departmental pre-plan easily and quickly from any device, using data acquired on the go to improve productivity.
- A user-friendly approach streamlines the process, allowing users to submit reports effortlessly from any place and at any time.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
What is Pre-fire Planning?
It is crucial to communicate with those responsible for implementing the pre-fire strategy before finalization. A pre-fire plan that does not align with the fire department's input will likely not succeed. The pre-fire plan serves two primary goals:
- Identifying potential fire starting locations within a structure
- Alerting firefighters to potential hazards, enabling them to prepare for emergencies
Prior to an actual emergency, industrial facilities, including chemical processing plants and manufacturing facilities, must create site-specific fire pre-plans and share them with first responders. This ensures the safety of both personnel and rescuers.
Prefabricated, one-size-fits-all blueprints cannot account for all the unique features of a specific building. However, responders may find an enterprise-wide template valuable when presented independently; it provides an overview of necessary information filled with site data.
For example, fire pre-plans should include, but not be limited to the following:
- Building/site layout information
- Fire suppression information
- Hazards locations
- Utility information
- Exposure information
- Water supply
- Evacuation needs
- Occupancy information
- Special procedures for handling, storage and control of items that have been identified as major fire hazards
- Mutual aid resources
For fire departments that underwent ISO inspections in 2005, 55.4% saw improvements in their classifications, indicating enhanced fire protection measures. Another 42.4% maintained their existing ISO classification, reflecting consistent performance.
However, a small percentage, 2.2%, experienced a downgrade in their classification. It's essential to recognize that an ISO inspection serves as a valuable planning tool to optimize fire protection measures, ensuring they are robust and effective.
What to Include in a Preplan & Report?
Detailed documentation outlining critical facts about a property that can and does impact an emergency response plan are being used more and more by fire departments as a response to these factors. Building owners, tenants, designers, insurers, and fire departments should all work together to create accurate preplans, which are then regularly reviewed and updated.
As far as property preplans requirements go, the current gold standard is code 1620 from the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). Code 1620 lays out seven criteria that should be addressed in light of the potential impact on a property during an emergency. They consist of:
- Construction
- Occupant characteristics
- Protection Systems
- Capabilities of public of industrial responding personnel
- Availability of mutual aid
- Water supply
- Exposure factors
For a more in-depth look at property-specific details, these categories are good places to start. In a real sense, information like this is priceless since it allows the attending fire department to react more effectively to a fire or rescue, which in turn means more property and maybe lives saved.
Developing a Pre-fire Plan
You and the authorities from your local fire department should include the following in your pre-fire plans:
- It is recommended to get the building plans if they are accessible. You can find out a lot about the building's design, construction, operations, and fire safety measures from these drawings. In the absence of architectural plans, you must devise a strategy for the structure that the fire department can follow.
- Figure out the most efficient ways to go to each floor of the building together.
- Evaluate the building's occupancy, operations, and storage conditions. Locations containing plastics, highly combustible materials, flammable liquids, or any other substance requiring particular firefighting care must be given extra attention.
- Find out where the sprinkler system's control valves are located. Firefighters may need supplementary signage in some instances to help them locate certain locations in the case of a fire. If the fire department wants to know how effective the sprinkler system(s) will be in a fire, they should examine them. Particularly in older structures or those whose functions or occupants have changed since the building's construction, this is crucial.
- Ensure that firefighters have unobstructed access by inspecting the placement of the fire department's connections (such as the wye connection and the dry riser connections). Verify that the department will designate one of the first arriving pumps to increase the water flow to the sprinklers via the fire department connection.
- Get a chance to explore where the water hydrants are and how it is supplied. Think of a way to fill fire hydrants without draining the sprinkler system's water supply.
- Check the building's fire sprinklers, if any, and any other fire safety devices. Find out what kind of equipment it is, where it is, how it is set up, and how it is activated (automatic or manual).
- Always be aware of the location and method of activating the fire alarm. A documented plan outlining who to call in the event of certain alarms (such as water flow alerts in a sprinkler system as opposed to tamper alarms) should be maintained by the monitoring firm. Find out how the fire department can be notified in the event that the alarm system fails.
- Determine how to inform the fire department in the event that the sprinkler system or any other fire prevention system is not operational.
- Make sure the fire department stops by on a regular basis to check in, update their records, and tour the facility.
What is Pre Plan Software and What are It’s Key Features
Fire pre-plan software provides an all-in-one solution for a fire department's building data needs, including storage, access, and updates.
Construction details, hazardous materials, access and egress locations, utilities, and fire service lines are all part of this dataset. Fire agencies can efficiently plan fire suppression for any structure or location using this program.
This best fire pre plan software type relies on data and photos collected from the general public and the fire department to develop a thorough strategy. Fire departments often conduct site inspections before entering visual information about a building's layout into the fire pre-plan software.
Information about the building's water supply, electrical lines, and other assets can also be obtained from public sources like utility providers.
The purpose of fire pre-plan software is to provide fire departments a streamlined and all-inclusive way to record and retrieve data on structures under their control. Some of the most important aspects of fire prevention software are:
- Comprehensive Data: Building construction, hazardous chemicals, probable access and departure locations, utilities, and fire service lines are all part of the comprehensive data provided by fire pre-plan software. In order for fire departments to come up with the best response strategy, this might help them save time and resources on the site.
- Visual Building Plans: To generate an exhaustive pre-plan for any specific location or structure, the software compiles photos and data collected via fire department visits or from public sources, such utility providers.
- Customized Fire Response Plans: With the use of fire pre-plan software, the most effective routes and actions may be generated to effectively limit the fire and reduce fatalities and damage.
- Documentation: Fire pre-plan software provides a practical means of storing all the essential data related to fire suppression, allowing fire agencies to swiftly retrieve it during an emergency.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the best fire pre-plan software for facilities in 2024 is non-negotiable for enhancing fire safety and emergency response preparedness.
With the increasing complexity of modern buildings and the evolving nature of fire protection systems, having robust software tailored to facility needs is essential.
Through these solutions and plenty of others that aren't listed in this post, advanced features such as interactive floor plans, real-time data updates, and mobile accessibility, facilities can streamline pre-planning processes and ensure firefighters have accurate, up-to-date information during emergencies.
Unify Team Operations, Maintenance and Safety Compliance with Xenia
Xenia unifies daily operations, maintenance management and quality assurance to help ensure teams and facilities are effective and efficient.
Our customers love Xenia's robust use cases including:
Operational Execution
✔️ Checklists & SOPs
Create checklists, SOPs, Inspections and Data Logs to power accountability, training and staff clarity on every task.
💪 Team Task Management
Assign work digitally to defeat pencil whipping and disorganized teams. Complete tasks, chat with teams on any device, track time, collect photos, and ensure high quality work.
📆 Recurring Tasks
Create recurring schedules for daily opening and closings, performance review meetings, inspections, cleanings and more.
📲 Chats & Announcements
Centralize team communications with in task chats, one-on-one chats, team messages and company wide announcements
📊 Team Performance Reporting
Use Xenia's analytics dashboards to view staff work reports. Filter by asset, location, category or due date and export the report in PDF or Excel
Maintenance Management
🛠️ Work Orders
Create work orders with associated team, asset, location, priority, category and due date. View live progress reports on each work order, chat with teams, and review resulting template submission, images and notes to improve operations.
🧰 Preventive Maintenance
Create a preventive maintenance calendar to ensure asset uptime is not compromised. Attach images, templates, videos and notes to every task and assign to a team or individual for completion.
📲 QR Codes
Generate and attach QR codes to equipment and facility locations to enable fast and accurate inspections and data logs.
⚙️ Work Order Requests
Receive, approve and assign work order requests from tenants, regular customers and vendors. Enable requesters to submit, track, and communicate with your team, without access to operations templates or unrelated work orders.
📁 Equipment Work History
View work history for every asset and sub asset in Xenia. Review performance data and enable corrective actions to improve your operation.
Safety Compliance & Quality Assurance
👍 Concrete Brand Standards
Put your brand standards in a clear and operational checklist to be attached to work assignments.
🔎 Smart Inspection Workflows
Xenia's operations template builder has built in conditional logic into each step. This allows you to trigger actions based on a form response such as creating a corrective action on a failed inspection step, sending a notification to management for out of range meter readings, and much more.
✨ Corrective Actions
Operationalize inspections with fast work order assignment arising from a failed inspection step. All corrective data is stored in the checklist submission for auditing and accountability.
📋 Analytics and Reports
View live dashboard summaries of tasks, employee performance, template submissions and more. Filter, organize and export compliance reports to PDF and Excel formats to simplify compliance management.
Centralized Fire Inspections, Preventions and Facility Management Through One App!
Fire inspection audits and preventative measures are not only life threatening hazards waiting to occur, but they are also chaotic at best.
We understand that!
Xenia unifies daily operations, maintenance management and quality assurance to help ensure that on-site workers, and frontline personnel are in safe hands while engaging in hazard prone activities.
Our customers love Xenia's robust use cases including:
✔️ Fire Inspection Checklists & SOPs
Create checklists, SOPs, Inspections and Data Logs to power accountability, training and staff clarity on every task.
💪 Build Inspections, Fire Incident Management SOPs and Logs Within Minutes!
Take the lead on your church facility management activities by creating detaild templates with unlimited steps and diverse reponse times.
📆 Plan Ahead With Scheduled & Recurring Tasks
Create recurring schedules for daily opening and closings, performance review meetings, inspections, cleanings and more.
📲 Dedicated Mobile App
Download and install Xenia's official iOS and Android app on your smartphone to centralized your on-site facility management activities.
📲 Chats & Announcements
Centralize team communications with in task chats, one-on-one chats, team messages and company wide announcements
🛠️ Work Orders Management
Create work orders with associated team, asset, location, priority, category and due date. View live progress reports on each work order, chat with teams, and review resulting template submission, images and notes to improve operations.
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