diff --git a/factory/wsConnectorFactory.go b/factory/wsConnectorFactory.go
index ccffbd7..434ad2b 100644
--- a/factory/wsConnectorFactory.go
+++ b/factory/wsConnectorFactory.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func createWsHost(wsMarshaller marshal.Marshalizer, cfg config.WebSocketConfig)
 			Mode:                       cfg.Mode,
 			RetryDurationInSec:         int(cfg.RetryDuration),
 			BlockingAckOnError:         cfg.BlockingAckOnError,
-			DropMessagesIfNoConnection: false,
+			DropMessagesIfNoConnection: cfg.DropMessagesIfNoConnection,
 			AcknowledgeTimeoutInSec:    cfg.AcknowledgeTimeoutInSec,
 			Version:                    cfg.Version,
 		},
diff --git a/process/firehoseDataProcessor.go b/process/firehoseDataProcessor.go
index 488d375..6006976 100644
--- a/process/firehoseDataProcessor.go
+++ b/process/firehoseDataProcessor.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package process
 
 import (
+	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 
@@ -15,9 +16,12 @@ import (
 var log = logger.GetOrCreate("firehose")
 
 const (
-	firehosePrefix   = "FIRE"
-	beginBlockPrefix = "BLOCK_BEGIN"
-	endBlockPrefix   = "BLOCK_END"
+	firehosePrefix = "FIRE"
+	blockPrefix    = "BLOCK"
+	initPrefix     = "INIT"
+
+	protocolReaderVersion = "1.0"
+	protoMessageType      = "type.googleapis.com/proto.OutportBlock"
 )
 
 type dataProcessor struct {
@@ -53,6 +57,8 @@ func NewFirehoseDataProcessor(
 		outport.TopicSaveBlock: dp.saveBlock,
 	}
 
+	_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(dp.writer, "%s %s %s %s\n", firehosePrefix, initPrefix, protocolReaderVersion, protoMessageType)
+
 	return dp, nil
 }
 
@@ -87,30 +93,28 @@ func (dp *dataProcessor) saveBlock(marshalledData []byte) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	log.Info("firehose: saving block", "nonce", header.GetNonce(), "hash", outportBlock.BlockData.HeaderHash)
+	log.Info("saving block", "nonce", header.GetNonce(), "hash", outportBlock.BlockData.HeaderHash)
 
-	_, err = fmt.Fprintf(dp.writer, "%s %s %d\n",
-		firehosePrefix,
-		beginBlockPrefix,
-		header.GetNonce(),
-	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not write %s prefix , err: %w", beginBlockPrefix, err)
+	blockNum := header.GetNonce()
+	parentNum := blockNum - 1
+	if blockNum == 0 {
+		parentNum = 0
 	}
+	encodedMarshalledData := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(marshalledData)
 
-	_, err = fmt.Fprintf(dp.writer, "%s %s %d %s %d %x\n",
+	_, err = fmt.Fprintf(dp.writer, "%s %s %d %s %d %s %d %d %s\n",
 		firehosePrefix,
-		endBlockPrefix,
-		header.GetNonce(),
+		blockPrefix,
+		blockNum,
+		hex.EncodeToString(outportBlock.BlockData.HeaderHash),
+		parentNum,
 		hex.EncodeToString(header.GetPrevHash()),
+		outportBlock.HighestFinalBlockNonce,
 		header.GetTimeStamp(),
-		marshalledData,
+		encodedMarshalledData,
 	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not write %s prefix , err: %w", endBlockPrefix, err)
-	}
 
-	return nil
+	return err
 }
 
 // Close will close the internal writer
diff --git a/process/firehoseDataProcessor_test.go b/process/firehoseDataProcessor_test.go
index 4046b9f..3e291f5 100644
--- a/process/firehoseDataProcessor_test.go
+++ b/process/firehoseDataProcessor_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package process
 
 import (
+	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -126,7 +127,8 @@ func TestFirehoseIndexer_SaveBlock(t *testing.T) {
 		outportBlockBytes, _ := protoMarshaller.Marshal(outportBlock)
 		err := fi.ProcessPayload(outportBlockBytes, outportcore.TopicSaveBlock, 1)
 		require.NotNil(t, err)
-		require.Equal(t, 0, ioWriterCalledCt)
+		// New does the first write
+		require.Equal(t, 1, ioWriterCalledCt)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("cannot unmarshall to get header from bytes, should return error", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -182,10 +184,12 @@ func TestFirehoseIndexer_SaveBlock(t *testing.T) {
 
 				switch ioWriterCalledCt {
 				case 0:
-					return 0, err1
-				case 1:
 					return 0, nil
+				case 1:
+					return 0, err1
 				case 2:
+					return 0, nil
+				case 3:
 					return 0, err2
 				}
 
@@ -202,12 +206,12 @@ func TestFirehoseIndexer_SaveBlock(t *testing.T) {
 		require.True(t, strings.Contains(err.Error(), err1.Error()))
 
 		err = fi.ProcessPayload(outportBlockBytes, outportcore.TopicSaveBlock, 1)
-		require.True(t, strings.Contains(err.Error(), err2.Error()))
+		require.Nil(t, err)
 
 		err = fi.ProcessPayload(outportBlockBytes, outportcore.TopicSaveBlock, 1)
-		require.Nil(t, err)
+		require.True(t, errors.Is(err, err2))
 
-		require.Equal(t, 5, ioWriterCalledCt)
+		require.Equal(t, 4, ioWriterCalledCt)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("should work", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -227,6 +231,8 @@ func TestFirehoseIndexer_SaveBlock(t *testing.T) {
 				HeaderBytes: headerBytes,
 				HeaderType:  string(core.ShardHeaderV1),
 			},
+
+			HighestFinalBlockNonce: 0,
 		}
 		outportBlockBytes, err := protoMarshaller.Marshal(outportBlock)
 		require.Nil(t, err)
@@ -240,11 +246,22 @@ func TestFirehoseIndexer_SaveBlock(t *testing.T) {
 
 				switch ioWriterCalledCt {
 				case 0:
-					require.Equal(t, []byte("FIRE BLOCK_BEGIN 1\n"), p)
 				case 1:
-					require.Equal(t, []byte(fmt.Sprintf("FIRE BLOCK_END 1 %s 100 %x\n",
+					num := header.GetNonce()
+					parentNum := num - 1
+					libNum := parentNum
+					encodedMvxBlock := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(outportBlockBytes)
+
+					require.Equal(t, []byte(fmt.Sprintf("%s %s %d %s %d %s %d %d %s\n",
+						firehosePrefix,
+						blockPrefix,
+						num,
+						hex.EncodeToString(outportBlock.BlockData.HeaderHash),
+						parentNum,
 						hex.EncodeToString(header.PrevHash),
-						outportBlockBytes)), p)
+						libNum,
+						header.TimeStamp,
+						encodedMvxBlock)), p)
 				default:
 					require.Fail(t, "should not write again")
 				}
@@ -258,7 +275,6 @@ func TestFirehoseIndexer_SaveBlock(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Nil(t, err)
 		require.Equal(t, 2, ioWriterCalledCt)
 	})
-
 }
 
 func TestFirehoseIndexer_NoOperationFunctions(t *testing.T) {