La Plata County to Test Emergency Alert System

The dry winter leaves La Plata County at risk for wildfires this summer. The La Plata County Office of Emergency Management will send out a Code Red alert to everyone in the county on April 20th. You’re watching the Local News Network, brought to you by Sky Ute Casino and Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers. I’m Sadie Smith. Code Red is an emergency notification alert and warning system used in La Plata County, similar to an Amber Alert.

There’s two types of emergency alerts. IPAWS is the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, which is FEMA. It’s a federal system and that’s the highest level of alert. And then Code Red is our next level down, where we can be more targeted. And it is an opt-in system.

On Sunday, April 21st, an alert test will be sent to everyone in La Plata County. The alert will include a link to encourage people to sign up for the notification system.

First time we’re doing a live iPause test alert, so everybody in the county will get this alert. We’re going to do it at 1:00 pm on April 20th. That’s a Sunday afternoon. Everybody’s going to get the alert, and it’ll have a link to the readylaplata.org page that we would normally send in an alert, and it shows the evacuation maps. So if we’re trying to evacuate an area for a fire, that’s where you would click to get the map to see if your home is being evacuated or not.

You can sign up and choose to receive notifications as texts, emails, or calls. By entering your address, you’ll be notified if your home is in the area of an emergency and needs to be evacuated.

It’s very important for people to stay informed and aware. And when we get into fire season, when we get into fire weather, which means higher temperatures, lower relative humidities, fuels are drying out. If there’s critical winds coming in, it’s really important that people stay informed so that they can be prepared better and receive that information and be ready to act.

Around 19,500 people in La Plata County are signed up on Code Red. Emergency Management hopes to double that number.

Emergency preparedness is no joke, and we want people to take action now to prepare. There’s so much you can do making arrangements ahead of time that are going to pay off down the road.

La Plata County wants residents to be prepared in the case of an emergency. Code Red offers a free way to stay informed. Instructions to sign up and additional details may be found on the La Plata County Office of Emergency Management website. Find more information about this and other stories online at durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of The Local News Network. I’m Sadie Smith.