Where does Disaster Scout get its information?

Disaster Scout brings together public emergency information from official agencies and other trusted sources so it’s easier to see what’s happening in one place.

We don’t issue emergency warnings and we don’t replace emergency services.

When information originates from an official authority, we keep that source visible and link you back to it.

Official agencies remain the authoritative source for emergency warnings, instructions and advice.

Official information stays official.

Disaster Scout is designed to amplify public information, not rewrite it into something it isn’t.

Depending on the source and the information being displayed, we may organise, map or standardise data so it can be shown consistently across the platform.

But we don’t create official warning levels, change agency instructions or present Disaster Scout as the issuing authority.

You’ll always be able to see where official information came from and, where available, go directly to the original source.

Australia

Disaster Scout uses public information from emergency services, meteorological agencies and government authorities across Australia.

Current sources include information from agencies and systems such as:

New South Wales

NSW Rural Fire Service
Bushfire warnings, incidents and related fire information.

NSW State Emergency Service / HazardWatch
Flood, storm, tsunami and other emergency warning information.

NSW Spatial Services
Supporting spatial and geographic information used within the platform where applicable.

Queensland

Queensland Fire Department
Fire and emergency warning information.

Queensland government emergency and hazard feeds
Storm, flood and other available public warning information.

Victoria

VicEmergency
Official Victorian emergency warnings and incident information.

Western Australia

Emergency WA
Official emergency warnings and incident information across Western Australia.

Tasmania

TasALERT
Official emergency warning and incident information.

National

Bureau of Meteorology
Weather, radar, fire danger and other meteorological information used across the platform where available.

Coverage varies between states and territories as public data sources, formats and usage permissions differ.

Canada

Disaster Scout Canada currently focuses on British Columbia and Alberta, using official federal and provincial information where available.

Current sources include:

British Columbia

BC Wildfire Service
Wildfire incidents, fire perimeters and related wildfire information.

EmergencyInfoBC and provincial evacuation information
Evacuation alerts, orders and other public emergency information where available.

Alberta

Official provincial emergency and wildfire information is integrated where supported and may vary by feature or data availability.

Federal

Environment and Climate Change Canada
Weather observations, severe weather information and supporting meteorological data.

Air quality and smoke information may also be displayed from recognised federal or provincial monitoring systems where available.

Your Questions, Answered

  • Community Reports are different from official warnings.

    They are designed to add local context, not replace emergency-service information.

    Community-submitted information is reviewed before being displayed and is clearly distinguished from official information on the platform.

    If an official source and a Community Report conflict, always follow the official authority.

  • Disaster Scout retrieves information from external sources at different intervals depending on the system.

    Some sources update frequently. Others may update only when an issuing authority publishes something new.

    That means information displayed in Disaster Scout can occasionally be delayed, unavailable or become stale if an upstream source is experiencing problems.

    We show timestamps and source information wherever possible so you can understand when information was last updated.

    For urgent decisions, always check the linked official source.

  • Australia and Canada don’t use one universal emergency information system.

    Different jurisdictions use different:

    • warning frameworks

    • incident classifications

    • data formats

    • terminology

    • map systems

    • publishing methods

    Part of Disaster Scout’s job is making that fragmented information easier to navigate without removing the context of where it came from.

    That’s also why some features are available in one region and not another.

Our Approach

There are a few principles we don’t compromise on:

We attribute official information.
You should know who issued it.

We link back to the source.
Disaster Scout is an additional way to access information, not a replacement for the authority responsible for it.

We don’t invent warnings.
Warning levels and official instructions come from the issuing agency.

We preserve context.
Where a source needs to be displayed in a particular way, we respect that.

We’d rather show less than show something we can’t support properly.

Found something that doesn’t look quite right?

Have feedback?

Or want to partner with Disaster Scout?

Emergency information systems are constantly changing, and sometimes feeds break, formats change or information doesn’t display the way it should.

If you notice something that looks wrong, we want to know.

For immediate emergency information or instructions, always refer to the relevant official authority.