Monitoring fire frequencies

[Polymathpangram]

Bless those poor souls caught by any of the fires raging in California.

I’m a relatively new ham, and wondering about the following:

I’m headed to near Tahoe with my family next weekend and my wife is very nervous about the extreme fire conditions.

I have a 2 meter in my truck, and a yaesu ft60r. Can anyone tell me if the following linked page would be useful for locating the appropriate frequencies for monitoring Cal Fire and any other relevant agencies for real time fire info? Or please tell me how to figure out how to do this.

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=1008

How does one know which of these frequencies is local?

In other words, I want to be able to know what frequencies to monitor depending on my location, in order to get emergency info.

Am I on the right track? I prefer to not buy a scanner, but if this is what I should do, please make recommendations as to what models I should consider. Must be mobile / portable.

Thanks
Ruben
KM6GWZ

 

[Alain]

Ruben,

As a ham and a scanner guy, if I were you, I'd try making contact with some of the ham radio clubs in the Tahoe area. No doubt, they have [or know of] a CERT team, or an AREA or RACES team. These hams monitor all of the fire frequencies in their given area. Here is a Google search of those clubs to get you started:

https://www.google.com/search?sourc......0..0j0i131j0i22i30j33i22i29i30.jpMv0oV4IlQ

 

[crucialcolin]

Not sure where you are going specifically near Tahoe as in County but for Cal Fire the Grass Valley and Camino ECC's frequencies are good ones to monitor as they cover a large part of the area. Pretty much coverage of Placer/Nevada/Yuba/Eldorado Counties. I would search the db for each county's SO or law frequencies and their region as well. For example Placer has west and eastern sheriffs dispatch. Its the eastern slope that you would want. On the Nevada side you have Douglas, Carson, and Washoe County.

Then of course the current fire incident called the CampFire up in Butte County falls under the Oroville ECC if you want to keep an eye on that.

Hope that helps give you some direction

 

[gmclam]

I don't think you can be informed enough by monitoring a single frequency. This is why we have scanners.

 

[RaleighGuy]

A look at the radio and tracking device they used during the fires.

Butte County Sheriff Sgt. Jack Storne talks to search personnel during the morning briefing, at a command post in Oroville, California, that was focused on search efforts following the deadly Camp Fire in the nearby town of Paradise. The California National Guard provided teams of soldiers to help in search efforts & the Cal Guard's Joint Operations Center provided civilian search personnel with secure tracking devices they used to report positions or call for help as they worked through debris from the fires. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Crystal Housman)