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FireDepartment.net as a Source for Fire Stations

By The National Map Corps

FireDepartment.net is an aggregate platform that lists information about (you guessed it!) fire departments. It operates similarly to other social media sites where profiles are created about entities for others to view. Read on to learn more about when it's acceptable to use FireDepartment.net as an authoritative source to verify fire stations.

List of Authoritative Sources

In our July 2020 newsletter, we outlined when it’s acceptable to use social media as an authoritative source. You may recall that this article heavily focused on Facebook. While it’s quite common for fire departments to use Facebook for their virtual communications, another common platform is FireDepartment.net. With the large fire stations challenge that we just launched, we wanted to take a moment to highlight when it’s acceptable to use FireDepartment.net as an authoritative source.  

Like these other platforms, authorized representatives can update their entities’ profiles so fire departments will sometimes rely upon FireDepartment.net for their virtual communications. However, since profiles are automatically generated, you must proceed with caution when using this site as a source. 

When it comes to FireDepartment.net profiles, there are various levels of completeness:  

 
Actively managed: 
  • There are profiles that are almost 100% complete. They have custom photos uploaded along with a list of staff members and numbers. These profiles are often actively managed by a member of the department. Ashridge Volunteer Fire Department is a good example. This profile has photos of the station uploaded, the fire chief identified, and includes department statistics. FireDepartment.net notes at the bottom that this profile is managed by the department’s fire chief. This is an example of a profile that would be considered authoritative because the department has a direct say in the information listed.  
Partially updated: 
  • Then we have profiles that are only partially complete. They may have one or two custom photos uploaded and an address listed but the fire chief is unspecified. It’s also hard to tell if the department statistics are accurate. These pages often aren’t being managed or at least don’t have a manager listed. The Bacon District Volunteer Fire Department is a good example. These partially completed pages could be used as a last resort if no other sources are available, but we strongly suggest that volunteers verify the information listed with another source before using it to update points. For instance, the above-referenced entry for BDVFD could be used in conjunction with the department’s official Facebook page since the logos match and the address on FireDepartment.net shows a station in roadside imagery that matches images on their Facebook page. 
Auto-generated: 
  • There are profiles that appear as though they’re aggregate assemblies of information gathered from a web crawl with hardly any custom information populated. They don’t have any photos uploaded, the fire chief is unspecified, and the URL listed with the address is broken. Hasty McClave Fire Department is an example. TNMCorps strongly advises against using profiles in this condition since the information is likely obsolete.  

Long story short, be sure to review a source for its completeness and to assess who authored the information before using it to update points. If it’s clear that a member of the fire department authored the information, then it’s safe to use. The less clear this is, the less reliable the information is. This applies to FireDepartment.net as well as all other platforms.