NS Fire Services

This fire service group of pages does not include coverage of DNR forest fire services that are instead covered under the provincial government pages.

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PROVINCIAL PAGES

REGIONAL PAGES (check here for most current info) Recent changes are usually announced in red, back on my opening page.

NS Fire Frequency List sorted by location
Similar list, by frequency (not as updated)
NS Fire Grid (provincial IMRS network of VHF repeaters available to local departments)
Typical VFD TMR Channel Lineup (most vfd's have only a very few TMR radios, for liaison)
NS FIRE DISPATCH CENTRES depts served may be slightly outdated but basically correct.
fire lookout towers

Cape Breton Regional Fire
Cape Breton Rural: Inverness, Victoria, Richmond Counties
HRM Fire & Emergency & other fire in HRM
Hants (East & West)
Colchester
Cumberland
Pictou
Antigonish
Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne,Yarmouth
Annapolis Valley and SW Shore --
Guysborough (Guysborough and St Mary's)

Fire Services in Nova Scotia are similar to those elsewhere. There is a mixture of small volunteer departments, composite volunteer/career stations, and the completely paid (career) departments in the cities. For departments utilizing VHF, the standard mutual aid frequency in Nova Scotia is 153.83 MHz; however it is also common for departments to use the local IMRS repeater for this use, or for a department to have in its radios the frequencies for its neighbours.

All fire departments in Nova Scotia (with the exception of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service, Halifax International Airport, military fire services, and possibly Truro Fire Dept) operate on VHF frequencies. In some areas various local fire departments have coordinated communications, at least for paging, and in some cases for operations as well. Paging services are mostly contracted from commercial providers. This is quite common in the Annapolis Valley, the South Shore, Hants and Colchester areas. Providers are a mix of for-profit, not-for-profit, and volunteer. "Not-for-profit" includes dispatching services provided by police departments and hospitals.

Superimposed on the individual paging and operations frequencies of the departments, there is also the Nova Scotia Integrated Mobile Radio System which, for fire services, consists of a network of VHF repeaters covering the whole province. It is safe to say that all fire departments using VHF would have the frequency for the local repeater in their radios. These repeaters allowed wide area communications. The NSIMRS system is most likely to be heard in paging, as several departments are called out through these repeaters, and as well many use them for operations. For information on the NSIMRS fire network ("fire grid") click here. Frequencies of the fire grid are included in the provincial list described below.

Please note that most, if not all, departments also have some capability to operate on the 800 MHz trunk (TMR) for coordination with other departments, and with other emergency service agencies. Generally this capability would consist of one or two portables used by supervisory personnel only or for Medical First Responders in order to be in contact with ambulance dispatch. Some departments use TMR to confirm with their dispatch service that they heard a VHF page.