On the Sunshine Coast, when a tree falls on the power lines, the fire department always gets called first to investigate. During a wind storm, listening to their radio communications gives a lot of information as to the severity of the issue. Here are some of the frequencies they use:

The first thing that happens is that Dispatch calls the appropriate Fire Department on a frequency of 149.290 MHz. The way that they direct the call is by using two distinct notes at the beginning of the transmission. Unfortunately, that's not something our radios can filter for, so we'll hear dispatch calls for the entire Sunshine Coast.

After the notes finish playing, Dispatch will repeat the message twice, which will include the address and a description of the issue.

After the inital Dispatch call, the fire department will call dispatch back on their own frequency to acknowledge the call and ask for more information if needed.

Here's the list of frequencies and tones used:

You'll notice that there are really only three distinct frequencies shared between six areas. The tones are what's preventing the wrong area hearing the wrong conversations (that and their distance).

The tactical simplex frequencies are used between fire department units to coordinate. For example, when directing traffic or giving each other directions. Most of them are the same frequencies with different tones.

Here's the list of Tac 2 frequencies:

And the list of Tac 3 frequencies:

On my radio, I scan between three frequencies to following the Roberts Creek Fire Department:

• 149.290 MHz to hear the dispatch call.
• 154.070 MHz with a tone squelch of 114.8 Hz to hear the fire department's reply.
• 154.070 MHz with a tone squelch of 167.9 Hz to hear the fire department's discussions on Tac 3.

I tried simply using 154.070 MHz without the tone, but I could hear Pender Harbour from time to time.

If you live in a different area, let me know which frequencies you find useful in the comments.