Anoka County unified 16 departments for countywide reporting and inspections
Anoka County Fire Protection Council consolidated incident reporting, inspections, scheduling, and data-sharing across a mixed staffing model—then used First Due to launch a countywide mobile food truck inspection program.
"Every single department is on our First Due platform… and then I can do reporting across all of the departments together."
Measurable impact
16
16 Departments on One Platform
50
50 Enhancements Adopted
136
136 Mobile Food Units Inspected
.svg)
The Story
Background
The Anoka County Fire Protection Council is a consortium of 16 fire departments plus three specialty fire rescue teams supporting communities across Anoka County, Minnesota. The council’s Public Safety Data Systems team helps departments share information and standardize operations.
Challenge
When the council’s prior software vendor announced it would stop offering the product, the risk was clear: keep using a tool as long as it continued working, then scramble when it didn’t. At the same time, the council needed to support a wide range of department structures—from fully volunteer to fully career—without forcing everyone into different systems.
Solution
Through an RFP, the council selected First Due to consolidate multiple tools into one platform that could support incident reporting and investigations, inspections, scheduling across mixed staffing models, and asset maintenance and training tracking. Just as importantly, the council wanted a partner that would build alongside them—enhancement requests turning into shipped product.
Results
With First Due, the council achieved 100% participation across all departments. Each department operates in its own environment while feeding into a parent-level view for countywide reporting, unlocking cross-department statistical analysis and collaboration.
That shared platform also enabled a countywide mobile food truck inspection program. Inspectors trained together, used a shared checklist, and agreed on consistent standards—so inspections and follow-ups could be viewed across jurisdictions, and a food truck inspected in one city could operate across the county for the season.
About
Anoka County Fire Protection Council
Quick facts
.svg)
Share this story
Bring ITM compliance into the response workflow—not a separate system.
Anoka County is expanding into First Due ITM to centralize contractor submissions, route documentation to the right AHJ automatically, and surface system status (like sprinkler impairments) where crews actually need it—inside pre-plans and response workflows.
In their own words:
- What prompted your search for a new platform?
- The previous vendor was no longer going to offer their software. The council didn’t want to be stuck using it only as long as it worked, so they looked for a platform that would keep growing with them.
- What made your requirements different as a council/consortium?
- The council supports 16 departments plus specialty teams, spanning fully volunteer to fully career models. They needed scheduling, incident reporting, inspections, investigations, assets, and training across different modes of operation.
- Why did First Due stand out during the RFP?
- First Due checked the boxes for the range of modules needed and provided a path to consolidate multiple vendors into one platform.
- How did your experience with product feedback compare to other vendors
- With other systems you might hear “great idea” and never see it. With First Due, the council saw action—about 50 enhancement requests incorporated since going live.
- How did First Due improve countywide collaboration?
- Each department uses its own environment, and it funnels to a parent agency view—allowing departments to run their own stats while enabling countywide trend reporting and analysis.
- What problem were you solving with the food truck inspection program?
- Food trucks were getting a separate fire inspection in every city, which is time-consuming and hard to schedule—especially when events come up quickly and inspectors don’t always work standard hours.
- How did you standardize inspections across multiple departments?
- Inspectors trained together and used a shared checklist in First Due so departments could trust the inspections and operate from the same standards.
- What did success look like in the first year?
- In the pilot year, inspectors completed 136 inspections with limited publicity—mostly word of mouth and a single press release.
- How did First Due help streamline re-inspections?
- If a follow-up was needed, inspectors could use a video call workflow to verify fixes—saving time for both the vendor and the inspector without sacrificing inspection quality.
- What are you most excited about next?
- ITM—so vendors can submit documentation in one place, and crews can see system status in pre-plans, including on mutual aid responses.
Ready to modernize countywide operations?
See how First Due helps multi-agency groups standardize programs, share data, and build safer workflows across jurisdictions.
