A computer program, FIRES: Fire Information Retrieval and Evaluation System, provides methods for evaluating the performance of fire danger rating indexes. The relationship between fire danger indexes and historical fire occurrence and size is examined through logistic regression and percentiles. Historical seasonal trends of fire danger and fire occurrence can be plotted and compared. Methods for defining critical levels of fire danger are provided. The paper includes a review of NFDRS philosophy and application, a description of input and output, and a summary of fire danger rating programs and data bases and their relationship to FIRES.