Extreme wildfires, fueled by climate change, are a growing threat throughout the West. Because Eagle County is a fire-prone ecosystem, acknowledging this reality and proactively adapting is crucial. By creating defensible space around your home, implementing home hardening techniques, and signing up to get key evacuation alerts, you can prepare yourself, your home, and your family for the threat of wildfire.
Providing Timely Notification of Evacuation Orders
One of the most significant and impactful ways to prepare for wildfire is to sign up for ECAlert, Eagle County’s Emergency Alert System. This system provides Eagle County residents and visitors critical information about evacuations and other emergency events. Signing up for this system gives you and your family a headstart if a wildfire event occurs in Eagle County. To sign up to receive notifications, download the ReachWell app on your Apple or Google device and subscribe to Eagle County Alerts, or visit www.ECAlert.org for more ways to sign up.
Empowering Homeowners to Take Charge on their properties
Firefighters play a crucial role in responding to blazes, but one of the best ways to protect yourself is to prepare your homes in advance. Implementing home hardening strategies, such as installing ember-resistant vent covers, using non-combustible flashing, and managing or removing vegetation and flammable materials around the base of your home and within 30 feet of your property. Home hardening protects your home from ember spread, slows down wildfires so that you and your neighbors have more time to evacuate safely, and gives firefighters a chance to stop the fire before it impacts your home.
If unsure where to start, consider signing up for a private property assessment through Eagle County or your local fire department. These no-cost wildfire risk assessments provide you with a prioritized list of recommendations specific to your property. Eagle County and Vail Fire also have funding via cost-share programs for homeowners who complete recommendations to support fire mitigation projects on their properties. For more information and to sign up for an assessment, visit Eagle County’s ECEmergency.org wildfire preparedness page, talk to your local fire department, or visit REALFire.net.
Creating a “Go-Bag” for Quicker Evacuations
An easy way to increase your chances of a timely evacuation is to prepare a “go-bag.” This bag should contain essential items that are hard to replace and necessary for leaving your home. Some suggested items are essential documents, prescription medicine, family heirlooms, photographs, snacks, and a change of clothes. Having this bag ready in advance can help make a potentially chaotic exit much faster and more seamless.
Looking Forward
While living in a wildfire-prone area may seem like an unavoidable catastrophe waiting to strike, taking responsibility for your property and preparing yourself and your family for a wildfire can vastly improve your outcome. Together, we can take bold actions to safeguard our cherished places before disaster strikes.
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