Firefighter Sims

The call has gone out, and the gaming industry has responded. 2025 has been a standout year for firefighter simulation games, mixing long-awaited high-budget releases with solid updates to beloved classics. Whether you want to manage a full-scale city-wide emergency, battle a raging wildfire, or just drive the big red truck, there's a game for you.

Here are the top 10 firefighter games to play in 2025.

1. Firefighting Simulator: Ignite

Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

Without a doubt, Ignite is the biggest firefighting release of 2025. This new title from Weltenbauer. and Astragon Entertainment (the team behind Construction Simulator) is a true next-generation experience. Built on Unreal Engine 5, it features stunningly realistic fire, smoke, and water physics. You can play solo with an AI crew or, for the first time in this series, in a 4-player co-op multiplayer mode. With licensed Rosenbauer America vehicles and authentic gear, this is the new gold standard for firefighting sims.

2. Emergency HQ

Platform(s): iOS, Android

The "Emergency" series has long been a leader in top-down command strategy, and Emergency HQ remains the king of mobile firefighting. It's not just a firefighter game; it's a full-on rescue-service management sim. You build your own base, dispatch and command units from the fire department, medical services, police, and technical units. With constant updates and community events, it’s a game you can play for 10 minutes or two hours.

3. Flashing Lights: Police, Fire, EMS

Platform(s): PC

A long-time favorite in the simulation community, Flashing Lights continues to be a top contender in 2025. This open-world simulator lets you and your friends take on the roles of police, fire, or EMS. The firefighting gameplay is robust, from using the Jaws of Life at a car accident to extinguishing multi-story building fires. Its strength lies in its multiplayer role-playing, making it a must-have for groups who want to create their own rescue stories.

4. Rescue Ops: Wildfire

Platform(s): PC (Planned)

While still in development with a planned 2025/2026 release, Rescue Ops: Wildfire has already captured the community's attention. This game moves away from the typical urban setting to focus on the incredibly challenging world of wildland firefighting. Set in a detailed French Mediterranean environment, you'll have to manage ground crews, water-bomber planes, and changing wind conditions to stop massive, unpredictable forest fires. Keep this one on your wishlist.

5. Emergency 5

Platform(s): PC

Even years after its release, Emergency 5 (and its predecessors) remains a benchmark for real-time strategy (RTS) rescue games. As a commander, you must manage a pool of vehicles and personnel to tackle large-scale scenarios, from train crashes to floods. It’s less about the first-person experience of holding a hose and more about the high-level strategic challenge of resource management under extreme pressure.

6. Into the Flames

Platform(s): PC

Developed by a real-life firefighter, Into the Flames offers a level of authenticity that many others miss. It's an open-world simulation that can be played solo or with up to 12 players in multiplayer. The game features realistic fire behavior, including backdrafts and flashovers, and a wide range of calls. You can drive multiple truck types, from engines to ladder trucks, and even take on the role of a tiller operator.

7. Teardown

Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

This might seem like an odd choice, but hear it out. Teardown is a game built on a fully destructible, voxel-based physics engine. While the main game is about heists, its fire-propagation physics are second to none. The modding community has embraced this, creating incredible firefighting mods and maps. If you want to see fire spread realistically from object to object and then use an extinguisher or axe to stop it, Teardown provides a uniquely satisfying (and chaotic) experience.

8. 911 Operator

Platform(s): PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Mobile

Ever wondered what it's like to be on the other end of the call? 911 Operator puts you in the dispatcher's chair. You are responsible for answering frantic calls, giving life-saving instructions, and dispatching the correct units (fire, police, and EMS) to the scene. It’s a high-stress, brilliantly executed strategy game that gives you a different perspective on emergency response.

9. EmergeNYC

Platform(s): PC

EmergeNYC is one of the most ambitious simulation projects out there, modeling New York City's emergency services. While still in early access, it has a fiercely loyal following. It aims to be the most realistic simulation on the market, with detailed truck operations, complex fire mechanics, and a massive, true-to-life map. It's a game for the hardcore simulation fan who wants to follow procedure to the letter.

10. Fire Truck Simulator (2025)

Platform(s): iOS, Android

For a quick and easy-to-play mobile experience, Fire Truck Simulator delivers. This game focuses purely on the driving and operation of various fire trucks. You'll navigate city streets with your lights and sirens, hook up to hydrants, and operate the ladder and hose to put out fires. It's a great "pick up and play" game for when you just want to get straight to the action.

Hey there, Incident Commanders! Welcome back to firefightersims.com, your go-to source for everything firefighting simulation. Today, we're tackling one of the most challenging and realistic scenarios in Firefighting Simulator - The Squad: the High-Rise Mission.

These aren't your typical residential kitchen fires. High-rise incidents test your planning, resource management, and understanding of vertical fire spread. Get it wrong, and you're looking at a rapidly escalating inferno. Get it right, and you'll walk away feeling like a true professional.

Let's dive into the strategies you need to master these towering infernos.

Understanding the Unique Challenges of High-Rise Fires

Before we get into tactics, let's quickly review why high-rise fires are so different in Firefighting Simulator:

1. Vertical Fire Spread: Heat and smoke naturally rise. Fire can quickly spread upwards through windows, elevator shafts, and stairwells.

2. Long Lays: Getting water to the upper floors takes significantly more hose and pressure.

3. Search & Rescue Complexity: More floors mean more potential victims and longer search times. Smoke conditions can be extreme.

4. Logistics: Elevators may be compromised, forcing your team to use stairs, leading to fatigue and slower response times.

Initial Size-Up: Your First Steps

As soon as you arrive on scene, get a good look at the building.

• Identify the Fire Floor: Where is the main body of fire? Is it venting from multiple windows?

• Locate Access Points: Are there exterior fire escapes? Where are the main stairwells and elevators?

• Victim Potential: Look for signs of occupants. Are people at windows?

Pro-Tip: Don't hesitate to pull out your thermal imaging camera (TIC) during your initial walk-around. It can give you crucial intel on hidden fire pockets or victims from the exterior.

Deployment Strategy: Getting Water & Personnel Where They're Needed

This is where high-rise tactics diverge significantly.

1. The Engine Company: Securing Your Water Supply

• Position Strategically: Park your pumper to allow good access to hydrants and, if possible, to put a master stream (deck gun) on a lower-floor exterior fire, but don't rely solely on it for interior attack.

• Establish a Standpipe (If Available): Many high-rise buildings in the game will have standpipes. This is your primary method for getting water to upper floors. Locate the FDC (Fire Department Connection) on the exterior of the building and connect your engine to it.

• Hose Lays: If no standpipe, prepare for a long, arduous hose lay up the stairwell. This will require multiple hose sections and a coordinated effort.

2. The Ladder Company: Ventilation, Access, and Rescue

• Aerial Placement: Position your ladder truck for potential aerial rescues from windows or for elevated master stream operations if the fire is contained to upper floors and an interior attack is not feasible or safe.

• Forced Entry & Search: Your ladder crew (or a dedicated search team) is crucial for rapid entry, opening doors, and conducting primary searches on the fire floor and floors above.

• Vertical Ventilation (Carefully!): Opening windows on the fire floor can help vent smoke and heat. However, be cautious; improper ventilation can feed the fire oxygen. Aim to vent above the fire if possible, or coordinate carefully with the attack crew.

The Attack: Pushing In and Up

1. Establish a Staging Area (Floor Below the Fire)

• This is critical in real life and a good habit in the game. Send your initial attack crew to the floor below the fire. This allows them to don SCBA, prepare their hose line, and get a feel for conditions before entering the inferno.

If using a standpipe, connect your hose line here and charge it.

2. Coordinated Attack

• Advance on the Fire Floor: Once water is charged, advance with your hose team. Use short bursts of water to cool the environment and push back the fire.

• Search and Rescue First: Prioritize searching for and removing victims on the fire floor and directly above. Your TIC is your best friend in smoky conditions.

• Containment: Work to prevent horizontal spread across the fire floor and, crucially, vertical spread to floors above.

AI Teammates: Maximize Their Effectiveness

Don't forget your AI team! They are invaluable in high-rise scenarios.

• Assign Specific Tasks: Don't just let them wander. Direct one to "Connect Hose to Hydrant," another to "Connect to Standpipe," and others to "Search & Rescue" specific floors.

• "Follow Me" for Complex Tasks: If you need help with a difficult hose lay or search, use the "Follow Me" command to bring them directly to where they're most effective.

• Recharge SCBA: Keep an eye on your AI teammates' air levels. They'll need to swap out bottles just like you do.

Post-Fire Operations

• Overhaul: Even after the main fire is out, check for hidden hot spots in walls, ceilings, and furniture using your TIC.

• Salvage: Protect property from water damage.

• Ventilation: Continue to ventilate the building to clear smoke and heat.

High-Rise Mission Checklist

• Hydrant Connection: Secure water source.

• Standpipe Connection (FDC): If available, connect and charge!

• Staging Area (1 Floor Below): Prepare your attack.

• Attack Line Advanced: Push into the fire.

• Primary Search: Fire floor and floors above.

• Ventilation: Coordinate to clear smoke.

• Overhaul & Salvage: Finish strong.

Mastering high-rise missions in Firefighting Simulator - The Squad is incredibly rewarding. It forces you to think like a true Incident Commander, prioritizing life safety, incident stabilization, and property conservation. Keep practicing, keep learning, and you'll be knocking down those high-rises like a pro.

 This blog post is a little off topic, not fire related.  It took me a few tries to figure this one out and I did not find good instructions to fix the issue. So here is a post I hope helps you out.  I took my iPhone in to an authorized repair store to get a new battery.  I have a 12 Pro which I really like and am not ready to pay on a new phone just yet.  My battery health was right at 80% so it seemed like a good time.  

So how this works now in iOS 18 is the tech had me swipe to delete my phone in the Find My app which puts the phone in a repair mode. When Repair Mode is enabled, the device is marked as "Ready for Repair" in the Find My app. This allows you to still track the device, but also enables technicians to access the device for diagnostics and repairs without needing to disable Find My or erase the device's data.

The thing is after I got home, the repair mode was still on. Under my phone in Find My it has this ready for repair box.  The technician never mentioned anything about this still being there.