Explore resources from Wildfire Collaborative Roaring Fork Valley, Pitkin County, and Aspen Fire to learn more about how you can be prepared for any emergency, especially wildfire.
(1) Sign up for Alerts
Pitkin, Eagle, and Garfield counties all have notification systems to provide emergency information straight to you through text, based on your current location.
Pitkin County: The PitkinAlert notification system enables local officials to quickly provide you with information about emergencies and community news, such as severe weather, road closures, missing persons, and evacuations. Learn more
Eagle County: It is the goal of Eagle County to provide accurate, coordinated, consistent, timely and easy to understand information about an impending emergency through a variety of information and warning systems to enhance the wellbeing of the community before, during and after the emergency. Learn more
Garfield County: The Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority has implemented a state-of-the-art emergency notification system to alert citizens about emergencies and provide essential information quickly in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, fires, floods, unexpected road closures, or evacuation of buildings or neighborhoods. Learn more
We also recommend that you download the ReachWell app through the Apple Store or Google Play Store, and allow notifications to ensure that you receive emergency information.
You can also directly monitor fires in your area at watchduty.org.
(2) Plan for Evacuation
When in doubt, head out – don’t wait to be told to evacuate!
Aspen Fire provides information and guidance at aspenfire.com/emergency-preparedness regarding when to evacuate, what to bring, where to go, and returning home.
If there are utility outages, available emergency resources will be called in from local fire, ambulance, and law enforcement agencies to mitigate the risks. However, if there are an overwhelming number of calls, life threatening situations must receive the highest priority. Other lower-priority services may be severely limited.
Learn more here from Pitkin County Sherriff’s Office about how to prepare yourself and your family in advance to be self-sufficient:
- Build a 72-Hour Family Emergency Kit
- Establish an Out-of State Contact
- Pick two local meeting places, one near your home and one outside your neighborhood
- Make copies of important documents and write down important phone numbers
- Plan for pets
- Talk with your family about the steps each needs to take to be ready if disaster happens
Aspen Fire also provides access to live wildfire cameras, wildfire risk maps, information about what to expect during an evacuation at aspenfire.com/wildfire-evacuation.
(3) Prepare your Home in Advance of Fire
You can significantly reduce risk to yourself and your home during a wildfire with a few simple actions BEFORE the fire occurs:
- Clear vegetation and flammable materials within 5 feet of your home
- Keep roofs and gutters clean
- Maintain well-spaced landscape
- Move firewood away from structures and vents
- Apply ignition resistant materials to your home
Taking these steps before a fire occurs gives your home the best chance of withstanding a wildfire, even if you are not there.
Learn more at https://www.rfvwildfire.org/solutions/wildfire-ready-homes.
(4) Tune In to Local Radio, Stay Informed
If there’s an emergency, turn the radio on and listen to Aspen Public Radio for breaking news, road closure, wildfire, or other emergency information.
You can hear the station on a traditional FM or emergency radio at 91.5 FM in Aspen or 88.9 FM throughout the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys, by streaming the station at aspenpublicradio.org, or by using the station’s app or your smart speaker.
Click here to review a full list of our frequencies throughout the area.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The Wildfire Collaborative Roaring Fork Valley is a valley-wide resource dedicated to helping communities take action on wildfire risk. By bringing together fire and forestry experts, local governments, nonprofits, businesses, and community leaders, the Wildfire Collaborative helps communities achieve wildfire resiliency.
Learn more about their work at rfvwildfire.org and explore more resource pages here.
