Mr Wilcox said there are areas on the 'day-to-day' that are in mobile and even radio reception blackspots.

"There isn't sufficient towers to reach everyone - there's lots of blackspots," Mr Wilcox said. "So when you come to an emergency and a general alert to evacuated there are areas where there isn't radio reception and some of those areas are along major highways."

"[It's an issue in] any emergency and even the day-to-day if there is a road accident we're just not getting the coverage people expect and it is something we have to plan for. "I'm sure the ambos and the RFS are in the same boat that it causes more problems."

Mr Wilcox said a critical improvement to communication for the region would be introducing additional mobile towers to extend radio and mobile signals to residents who otherwise might be caught unaware.

"People rely so much on mobile phones and that is what I'm seeing is the biggest issue - the level of communication needed to be notified and if the phones drop out, that puts people at risk," he said. Council also has a resolution to attend the Australian government conference and advocate to fund for more mobile blackspot coverage. "We have lots of blackspots," Mr Wilcox said.

Deakin is looking at Tenterfield as an area that has suffered through compound disasters - one disaster after another - which Mr Wilcox said has played a role in people being more aware of emergency circumstance.

"There is high awareness in this community because they've had fires before ... we've been subject to fires, floods and so on - but that has helped the community awareness and the community information."

Mr Wilcox said council played very little role in an emergency as major bushfires saw control handed over to the RFS and then following a fire event Recovery NSW takes the lead.

However, he did say council acts as a conduit of sorts, relaying information from reports to the relevant authorities or providing support as requested by the SES or RFS - which might be for a digger to cut fire breaks or the provision of water trucks to replenish RFS vehicles.

"Our role is basically an observer, council does a good job and our staff does a good job, but it's on request if plant equipment or a water truck is needed," he said.

In provision of communications, Mr Wilcox said council operates a generator on Mount Mackenzie to power a signal tower, which largely ensures the township keep mobile phone signal in a blackout, but should that go down, Recovery NSW could bring in a Telstra mobile generator / tower.

Mr Wilcox joined others in praising the efforts of 10FM in broadcasting information, but said sadly it was limited by those blackspots.

Asked specifically about improvements the paper could make in its coverage, Mr Wilcox suggested links to relevant sites like Hazards Near Me and Live Traffic for road closures.

"By the time the media get the information, the fires have moved quicker, so people need those links to see what's going on [in real time]," he said. "A lot of people get caught out because the information wasn't coming quick enough - if they're just relying on written info they need a second source."

He also said in an emergency the internet was normally one of the first services to drop out, limiting access to websites, though some people could still use mobile reception if they have it.