Bushfire Alert

[Robert-Robert34]

But do you have a UHF radio?    If not, it is not something you would / should be necessarily aware of.....

Some time ago, I was doing some updates on brigade contacts, and found that the alarm number for a number of brigades was actually the Captain's home phone number.   I thought that was a bit sad, for one person to be the emergency phone contact point for the brigade, so I spoke to a Captain, and asked how it worked.

Everyone in the district (CFS members, plus everyone else!) all had UHF radios - in their tractors / farm equipment, in their private vehicles, in their houses.   If a fire started anywhere within the district, the first person who spotted a fire called it in on UHF, and the whole district knew immediately......

Obviously, this sort of system won't work everywhere, but in the more rural / primary producer area, can work quite well.....

Pip

You are right Pip the UHF radio fire reporting system works doesnt work everywhere and is best suited for rural/primary producer areas cause thats where most UHF CB Radio users are  especially me cause i have a UHF radio in my car

[Bushfire Alert]

But do you have a UHF radio?    If not, it is not something you would / should be necessarily aware of.....

Some time ago, I was doing some updates on brigade contacts, and found that the alarm number for a number of brigades was actually the Captain's home phone number.   I thought that was a bit sad, for one person to be the emergency phone contact point for the brigade, so I spoke to a Captain, and asked how it worked.

Everyone in the district (CFS members, plus everyone else!) all had UHF radios - in their tractors / farm equipment, in their private vehicles, in their houses.   If a fire started anywhere within the district, the first person who spotted a fire called it in on UHF, and the whole district knew immediately......

Obviously, this sort of system won't work everywhere, but in the more rural / primary producer area, can work quite well.....

Pip

Dear Pip

We resolved a method of including BFA alert broadcasts over UHF some time back however at that time we understood such automated transmissions would not be legal to do so.

We agree that UHF is popular however our research showed that most people in bushfire prone areas in Australia do not have access to UHF radio, or if they do then not all the time, the mobile phone was by far the device most widely available, plus the mobile has the advantage of being able to pro-actively start ringing to alert people regardless of time of day or where people are at the time. For example, most people living in the Adelaide Hills do not have UHF radio. Because no one method can be guaranteed of reaching everybody everytime, we send alerts via home phone, work phone, mobile phone, SMS, email simultaneously, giving people the best possible chance of receiving alerts.

Regards Bill
Bushfire Alert.

[Pipster]

I can tell in in my area mobile phones don't work any better than UHF (which basically doesn't work in my area) - we are lucky to get one bar service in most of the area (and that includes GSM, CDMA, and a few tests with the new 3G )   

I am not suggesting that bushfire alert system be used across UHF system...I think the UHF system in many area is already doing a similar thing to what is suggested with bushfire alerts - and is already well tried & tested by those who live with UHF.....

Pip

[Robert-Robert34]

I can tell in in my area mobile phones don't work any better than UHF (which basically doesn't work in my area) - we are lucky to get one bar service in most of the area (and that includes GSM, CDMA, and a few tests with the new 3G )   

I am not suggesting that bushfire alert system be used across UHF system...I think the UHF system in many area is already doing a similar thing to what is suggested with bushfire alerts - and is already well tried & tested by those who live with UHF.....

Pip

It is being used Pip in similar way to how the Bushfire Alert System is gonna be used but the bushfire warnings are only broadcasted on UHF pending on the area or situation