First responders work in high hazard environments that can rapidly change, endangering life and threatening property. Due to the costs and potential dangers associated with testing and evaluating technology in hazardous conditions, technology developers and designers have identified virtual reality (VR) as a potential medium for training and developing new technologies, since VR environments afford us the ability to simulate low frequency, high risk emergency events. However, designing virtual scenarios for public safety end users requires a detailed understanding of the operational environment first responders work in. This paper addresses some of the benefits and challenges of using VR to develop 3D user interfaces for the public safety domain. We introduce some of the key design elements that are not often considered in the context of public safety training and research. These elements include considerations for designing more realistic 3D models (e.g., props), addressing the design of both playable and non-playable characters in the simulation, and considerations regarding operational environment fidelity (e.g., modeling realistic fire conditions). Taken together, these elements represent some of the key areas that are necessary for creating appropriate levels of cognitive fidelity that lead to more successful training outcomes. We present several applied examples to illustrate how these elements work together to support the public safety end user. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of current and future research directions related to VR for public safety.