Wildland Firefighting
MicroCELL® in Wildland Firefighting: Emergency Signaling and Accountability When Crews Outrun the Base Station
TPASS® 5 GPS uses private RF and a base station. MicroCELL® uses direct 4G LTE to Grace Cloud Connect®. How to choose on the fireline — and why MicroCELL is not a PASS replacement.
Structural firefighting emergency signaling and accountability is typically a problem of a few hundred feet. Wildland firefighting is a problem of miles, complicated by drainages and ridgelines that hide both personnel and radio contact.
The critical question on the Fireline is: where is everyone right now, and would anyone know if one of them went down?
Grace Industries answers this question in two distinct ways by leveraging different communication platforms tailored to the specific environment.
Path 1 — Private RF: TPASS® 5 GPS + In-Command® Full View GPS™
This is fireground RF telemetry taken outdoors.
TPASS® 5 GPS is an NFPA-compliant standalone RF PASS with GPS location, no-motion alarm, manual distress-panic button, wireless MAYDAY / EVACUATE / PAR / ROLL-CALL, over temperature alarm, loss-of-signal alarm, and status data-logging.
Paired with In-Command® Full View GPS™ (Windows PC + MX900H transceiver), Command sees fire personnel and their outdoor GPS positions with all the same emergency signaling and accountability functionality used on a structural fireground.
Mapping capability is built in with online map layers (ESRI, Bing, and similar) and cached regional maps that work offline. Custom SHP and KML layers import from agency GIS.
Constraint: every device must reach supported RF infrastructure. Open-country line-of-sight on the 902–928 MHz ISM radio band is on the order of a mile before terrain and canopy cut it down. The TPASS® Micro Repeater retransmits TPASS® traffic and can hang from a tower or be attached to a vehicle, where it extends coverage for an additional mile or so. Adding additional repeaters continues this one-mile incremental pattern. You have to deploy a transceiver, a computer, and likely multiple repeaters but the upside is the system works with no cellular service.
Path 2 — Direct cellular: MicroCELL® + Grace Cloud Connect®
MicroCELL® removes the transceiver and repeaters from the path.
MicroCELL® is a small (about 1.9 oz) worker-worn device that connects directly over 4G LTE to Grace Cloud Connect® web and smartphone applications. Where commercial cell coverage exists, including the portable cell-sites deployed during wildlands fires, Emergency Signaling and Accountability does not depend on a repeater chain back to your ICP.
That flips the coverage question: instead of, “Can this squad reach my MX900H transceiver?” the question becomes, “are they inside cellular coverage?” Structure-protection groups or engine strike teams on a highway and road-accessible flanks often have cell coverage long after they are past a 1-mile coverage radius of the private RF In-Command® system.
What MicroCELL® brings to the Fireline:
- Scheduled check-ins through a long shift
- One-touch SOS distress button
- Configurable fall-detection and no-motion alarms
- GPS location
- Cloud messaging email and SMS-text (and two-way voice on voice plans)
- Multi-recipient alerts and escalation
- Cloud accessible history after the incident
MicroCELL® is IP67-rated, its run-time is approximately 30 hours per charge, its rechargeable battery is user-replaceable, and it has FCC / IC / CE / PTCRB type approvals typical of a cellular device. Wi-Fi hotspot and Bluetooth beacon options matter more at ICP and camp than in the forest.
MicroCELL® is not an NFPA-compliant PASS. Any agency that requires a PASS on the line still needs an NFPA-compliant PASS. MicroCELL® is the wide-area accountability and emergency signaling layer when RF infrastructure cannot follow the crew.
Which tool for which assignment
| Feature | TPASS® 5 GPS + In-Command® Full View GPS™ | MicroCELL® + Grace Cloud Connect® |
|---|---|---|
| Path | Private RF to base stations / repeaters | Direct 4G LTE Cellular |
| Deploy | Transceiver, PC, repeaters | Device + cellular coverage |
| Works with no cell service | Yes | No |
| Works with no on-scene RF support gear | No | Yes, if cell exists |
| NFPA compliant PASS | Yes, TPASS® 5 | No |
| No-Motion / Man-down / SOS-button | 30-second no-motion alarm, SOS-button | Configurable no-motion + fall detection, SOS-button |
| Automated PAR / EVACUATE /ROLL-CALL signaling | Automated PAR-Check, ROLL-CALL, EVACUATE | Cloud check-ins and group messaging |
| Mapped tracking | Continuous outdoor GPS location in Full View | Continuous outdoor GPS location with alerts |
| Offline maps | Cached maps, no internet | Portal needs connectivity |
| Recurring cost | None for the RF system | Annual Cloud Connect plan (voice is optional US add-on) |
| Intrinsic safety | UL913 / CSA on TPASS® | Not IS-rated; IP67 |
Use RF TPASS® when the assignment is interior, IDLH, or a no-cell wilderness area you can cover with repeaters. Use MicroCELL® when the limiting factor is distance and cell coverage is real. Use of both devices is ideal in urban / wildland interface and crossover areas.
Coverage you should assume, and coverage you should not
Cellular is not always “everywhere”. It is dense along highways, towns, and many WUI subdivisions, and absent on the other side of the first ridge. Brief the plan like aviation briefs weather: coverage is a condition, not a hope.
Frequently asked questions
Does MicroCELL® replace TPASS® 5?
No, its use-case is similar, but its communication platform is different. MicroCELL®’s connection path is direct cellular vs. private RF through a base station for TPASS® 5. MicroCELL® is not NFPA compliant and does not replace an NFPA compliant TPASS® 5.
Does MicroCELL® work with In-Command® Full Crew?
No, MicroCELL works with Grace Cloud Connect® web and phone app, not with In-Command® software.
What if there is no cell coverage?
Use TPASS® 5 GPS, Micro-Repeaters, and In-Command® Full View GPS™ — that path does not use the cellular network.
Is there a subscription?
Grace Cloud Connect® is a subscription based service (cellular data/voice plan included). In-Command® uses a dedicated private RF system – no subscription required.
Grace builds both the NFPA compliant RF PASS (TPASS® 5 / SuperPASS® 5X + In-Command®) and the direct-cellular path (MicroCELL® + Grace Cloud Connect®). Match the path to the terrain. Visit us at graceindustries.com or contact us at 724-962-9231 or at sales@graceindustries.com.
Next step
Planning accountability for wildland assignments?
We can help you match RF, cellular, or both to the terrain your crews actually work — no obligation.