Fire Journal vs ICS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Fire Journal
This app helps first responders meticulously track their career activities, including incidents, training, and daily duties. It offers detailed journaling, incident categorization, and mapping capabilities. An optional subscription unlocks advanced reporting and data synchronization.
- Unlimited journal and incident entries
- Categorization of entries and incidents
- Detailed incident mapping
- Offline data entry
- Customizable tags
- Daily call totals and tracking
- Current local weather display
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If you’re in the fire service, you need Fire Journal. Completely rewritten from the ground up - taking advantage of Apple’s latest development tools, Fire Journal is fast, accurate, and reliable. In today’s complex first responder world, keepinhg track of your career has become a vital function for accountability, as well as memories. Fire Journal is a FREE APP - and it offers tremendous value for both career and volunteer firefighters. You’ll be up and running within just a few minutes. Start each shift/tour by completing relief, and start the day with your schedule or however you like to manage your activities. KEY CAPABILITIES: - Unlimited Journal entries - Journal entry categories, including Station, Community, Members, and Training - Unlimited incident entries - Categorize incidents by Fire, EMS, or Rescue - Add local incident types and NFIRS incident types - Detailed incident mapping (show your incident history on a map) - Does not require Internet access to enter data - Offers Journals, Incidents, and special projects (such as promotion study or tracking) - Tags provides detailed customization (unlimited tags) - Shows daily calls for service totals, by response category - Tracks calls for service by date and month - Shows current local weather - Entries are time stamped for journaling accountability Fire Journal offers a firefighter reporting membership as well. This in-app subscription adds value with additional reporting, trending, and career tracking. Graphic reports on fires, EMS, rescues, and journal entries - even broken down by category. Add certifications, create ICS-214 forms for export, and see how your responses and journal entries track over time. Automatically sync your data, so even if you swap devices, or lose one, all of your data remains safe and secure. SUPPORT: Includes FREE 24/7/365 online support for iOS devices, iPadOS devices, and Cloud services PRICING: Fire Journal is a FREE application Fire Journal Membership is an In-App subscription (see below) DEVICE REQUIREMENTS: Any 64-bit Apple iPhone or iPad with at least 8MB of available memory, and able to run iOS 15 or newer (or iPadOS 15 or newer) Cloud services require any modern web browser on a Mac or PC with at least 8MB of available memory WHO USES FIRE JOURNAL? Career firefighters Volunteer firefighters EMTs Paramedics Fire Inspectors Fire Officers FIRE JOURNAL MEMBERSHIP: In-App Subscription Add advanced capabilities to Fire Journal using an inexpensive and capable PREMIUM reporting and tracking solution. The first 60 days of your Fire Journal Membership subscription service will be FREE. Your ongoing use of Fire Journal Membership beyond the initial 60 day period requires a subscription (monthly or annual), and is auto-renewing. You may cancel your subscription at any time. The subscription fee will be charged to your iTunes account on confirmation of purchase. By completing your purchase, you are agreeing to our Terms of Service, https://purecommand.com/terms/ and our privacy policy, https://www.purecommand.com/privacy/ - Note that your Fire Journal Membership subscription will renew at the end of each subscription period unless you turn auto-renew OFF at least 24 hours prior to the end of the subscription period in force. Auto-renewal may be turned off in your Account Settings in iTunes after your purchase has been completed. No cancellation of the in-force subscription is permitted during an active subscription period. IN-APP SUBSCRIPTION: All MEMBERSHIP subscription options include a FREE90-Day trial - and you may cancel at any time. Monthly SILVER PLAN: $7.99 per month (paid monthly) Annually GOLD PLAN: $3.33 per month (paid as a single annual payment) The total annual subscription for the GOLD PLAN is $39.99. You may upgrade a SILVER PLAN to a GOLD PLAN at any time. Remember - the first 60 days are FREE, then automatically charged to your iTunes account.
ICS
This application simplifies the creation and sharing of ICS-214 forms. It offers an intuitive workflow for adding details and activity entries, with offline capabilities for uninterrupted work. Users can pre-populate forms with default fields to save time during ongoing incidents.
- Friendly workflow for details and entries
- Offline authoring and editing
- Shareable ICS-214 form export
- Set default fields for pre-population
- Optimized for field use
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An easy-to-use app to help prepare and share the ICS-214 form. Friendly workflow: Add details and activity entries using a friendly workflow optimized for field use. Work Offline: Designed to work completely offline for authoring and editing activity details even while off the grid. Share Official ICS-214: When connectivity is available, use the share option to export or send out a copy of the ICS-214 form. Set Default Fields: Use the "214 Default Fields" option in settings to set defaults that will pre-populate new ICS-214 forms upon creation. This will save time when working the same incident and/or with the same team for multiple operational periods. Coming next: Support for spreadsheet format, preview the form, edit filename, attach images & location, electronically sign PDFs, and more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ICS at 86% against Fire Journal's 0%. ICS also leads on rating (4.2 vs 1.0) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ICS holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ICS has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Fire Journal's written reviews are positive against 86% of ICS's.
| Parameter | Fire Journal | ICS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.2 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.0.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 132 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PureCommand, LLC | Mike Comer |
Customer experience
Fire Journal
ICS
In-app purchases
Fire Journal
No in-app purchases
ICS
No in-app purchases









