When it comes to covering one’s territory in order to gather water, smoke, or fire leads, the question that is often asked is, “My territory spans five counties, can I get all those counties programmed into my scanner?”

The answer to this question is yes.  With the technology that exists today there are literally thousands of frequencies that can be programmed into a single scanner.  The real question is, will you receive all frequencies from five counties?  The answer is probably not.

The question that is often asked of me from larger restoration companies that want to monitor fire leads throughout multiple counties is, “how do I know if I can receive all the fire dispatches from my office location?  My entire territory spans quite a few counties . . .”

This is a great question and one that merits an in depth response.

First, one must understand the nature of public safety/fire transmissions.

Are you wearing a fire scanner on your hip so you can listen for fire dispatches to increase business at your restoration company?  Ever miss an address and wish you could go back in to hear it again?

Recording your fire scanner audio will do exactly this of course.  With the ability to go back and listen to audio in order to fill in the blanks with information you may have missed while listening live means you never miss a beat.  Plus, when done right you can gather other information about the structure and extent of the fire to save time, money, and effort.

Over the years scanners have been a source of entertainment for millions of people worldwide.  When a police car or fire truck races by one’s house, curiosity peaks and one naturally wonders what is happening.  Is it someone I know?  Can I help?  These are some of the first thoughts, and such questions can be answered by listening to a police/fire scanner.