The Interim Report of the Royal Commission into the 2009 Victorian Bushfires reports that in community consultations,residents of fire affected areas said that the most up to date information about the fires came from scanners.
A scanner or radio scanner or listening device or CFA scanner, allows you to listen to the conversation between 000 and the fire trucks. It is immediate and direct information from the fire ground.....BUT they are not perfect. They can be difficult to understand, they are noisy and can be quite disruptive, they may be affected by heavy smoke, they need to be monitored constantly and if the fire develops the communications will move to a frequency not publicly accessible.
But they may provide vital, real time bushfire information. They usually cost about $200 - $250. However, in July the CFA signed a $32 million contract to purchase digital radios which will then involve phasing out scanner radios over the next two years.