How online fire drills work
An online drill in Scene SizeUp runs the way a real response runs: dispatch, response times, radio discipline, command decisions, and a debrief built from the record. Here is the whole cycle, from building the scenario to the after-action review.
1. Build the scenario on a real address
Start from a street address in your district. Pull the front of the building from Street View, the roof from aerial imagery, or use photos you took yourself, then place fire, smoke, victims, and hazards on each side. Save worsening versions of the scene as situation levels, and schedule injects that fire on the exercise clock or on your command.
2. Share a session code
Members join from their own phones, tablets, or laptops with a four-letter code. Nothing to install. In the lobby the crew talks on an open intercom, the instructor makes unit assignments, and a ready check confirms everyone is set before the clock starts.
3. Tones out
Starting the clock sends the dispatch: an automated dispatcher reads the call over the air. Each unit arrives on its own response time, and crews see the scene when their unit is on scene, not before. First-arriving officers give their size-up on the radio the way they would on a real call.
4. Work the incident
The radio is push to talk and carries one transmission at a time; a busy channel sounds busy. The incident commander declares strategy, works the command board, assigns companies, and answers PAR prompts. The instructor escalates conditions with situation levels and injects, forces arrivals, and can watch every position without being seen. Companies inside the structure report with structured CAN reports.
5. End the drill, keep the record
When the instructor ends the session, the record seals. The after-action review replays the drill exactly: the scene as each crew saw it, the event feed, and every radio transmission at the moment it happened, with transcripts. The crew gathers in a review room with open voice, the instructor drives the playback, and the debrief happens over the actual record instead of memory. Evaluations are scored privately during the drill and released when the instructor decides.
What you need
A browser. Drills run on the devices your members already carry, in the bay or at home. Training hours are recorded per member, split into command time and crew time, and export for continuing-education documentation.