I spent one week as a volunteer radio operator with the Tara State Emergency Services during October 2002 when the town was threatened by major bushfires, sky high temperatures and strong winds.
UHF CB Radio was the one standard that was used by ALL our emergency services, ranging from Police, Ambulance, State Emergency Services (SES), Bush Fire Brigades (volunteers) and some city fire brigade officers and units.
The HF/VHF/UHF rig in my car was useless during this emergency because none of the people involved in the firefighting operation could use my frequencies. And I was only allowed, as a Ham, to communicate with other Hams. (Yes, I realize there are exceptions for emergencies, which this was.)
However, people living on those nearby country properties could also use CB radios to contact the SES to report on the fire and to ask if it was getting close to them.
See my fire photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozipomdave/page4/