Wildfire Ready

Are You and Your Family Ready for the Next Wildfire?

The Hero’s Mission: Defend What Matters Most

Living in beautiful Summit County means being part of a vibrant mountain community. But dry conditions, forested neighborhoods, and unpredictable weather mean wildfire season is a reality we all must face. You love your home and your family—and you have the power to protect them before the smoke appears.

Wildfires move fast. In a matter of hours, an entire town can be compromised. If you aren't registered for emergency alerts or haven't prepared an evacuation plan, confusion takes over when every second counts. Don't let a lack of preparation put your family or property at risk. The Paradise Fire video below shows how a fast moving wildfire destroyed a town of 27,000 in just 6 hours.

The Guide: Your Partner in Preparedness

You don’t have to figure out wildfire safety alone. Rotary Wildfire Ready is a collaboration connecting you with local Fire Departments, emergency managers, and community leaders. We provide the tools, checklists, and local resources you need to become an informed, fire-adapted, and fully prepared neighbor.

The 4-Step Roadmap to Wildfire Safety

Preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Follow this simple, four-part plan to secure your property and your peace of mind.

1. Get Notified

2. Get Ready

3. Get Set

4. Go

1. Get Notified !

You MUST register in advance to get alerts and evacuation notices.

Summit County Alert

The Office of Emergency Management and 911 Dispatch use Summit County Alert to send emergency notifications by phone, email and text to keep community members informed of emergency events.

Emergency events may include evacuation and shelter-in-place notices, utility outages, wildfire information, severe weather and hazmat incidents. SC Alert is also occasionally used to communicate non-life-safety information, such as planned road closures, community meetings, utility repairs and service interruptions.

Summit County changed alert providers in May 2025; you must create a new account if you have not yet done so.

Once inside your managed account, you can customize alerts by selecting Community Groups and identifying physical addresses for which you want to be notified of any emergency activity or information. For example, if you live in Silverthorne but work in Breckenridge, you may want to supply both your home and work addresses to get alerts about emergencies in either town.

Using SC Alert
We deliver SC Alert notifications by phone, email, text and mobile-app alerts. Individuals and businesses may add as many phone numbers, email addresses and text numbers as they choose. SC Alert is compatible with TDD/TTY devices for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Register for SC Alert

Visit SCAlert.org to create a managed account and select your notification groups.
Enter addresses, such as your home and work locations, to be notified of emergencies occurring in those areas.
Add the SC Alert Emergency phone number (970-410-8234) and text number (88911) to your contacts as "SC Alert" so that it will display in your caller ID.
You can also download the Public Safety by Everbridge app via the Apple Store or Google Play.
Need help with your account? Email us for assistance.

Community Connect

Community Connect is a new program to protect our residents and their property in the most effective way possible. Community Connect is a free, secure, and easy to use platform that allows you to share critical information about your household that will aid first responders and emergency response personnel when responding to your residence. By providing information about your household that you feel is important for us to know about at the time of an emergency, we can ensure you and everything you care about is protected to the best of our ability.

Learn more and Register for Community Connect HERE

2. Get Ready !

Summit County Fire Protection & Mitigation Resources

Summit County Fire & EMS

To schedule a FREE wildfire preparedness and defensible space assessment click here.

For pre-construction home safety inspections and mitigation consultations click here.

Wildfire education, evacuation planning, and readiness programs can be found here.

Red, White & Blue Fire District

For current fire danger levels and restrictions updates click here.

To obtain permits for campfires, home fire pits, and controlled burns click here.

County-Level Programs & Services

To learn about the free chipping program to remove slash and vegetation click here.

For hazardous fuels reduction and mitigation grants click here.

Find out more about the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) initiatives here.

Don't forget about your Family Pets

3. Get Set !

You and your family need to prepare in advance for a potential wildfire. When you are prepared you can make your home and family safer during a wildfire.

4. Go !

By leaving early, you give your family the best chance of surviving a wildfire. You also help emergency personnel by keeping roads clear of congestion.

You should go to a predetermined location and make sure you have several travel routes in case your evacuation route is blocked.

Support the Local Mission

Rotary Wildfire Ready is a non-profit initiative funded through the Evergreen Rotary Foundation (a 501(c)(3) organization) with support from the Rotary Club of Summit County. 100% of your donation stays in community education and safety efforts. Help us scale our reach and keep Summit County safe.

Donate to the Evergreen Rotary Foundation

Donate to the Summit County Rotary Charitable Fund