Community Conversation with Boulder Leaders: Marshall Fire, 1/9/22, 4pm

If we ever have a fire in our area, this discussion will likely give you an idea of what we'd be facing in the aftermath.

Congressman Joe Neguse and Colorado legislators from the Boulder area will together host a virtual Town Hall for all community members to discuss the recent fires, recovery resources, and the road ahead.

Representatives from FEMA, Colorado state unemployment assistance, Boulder County disaster recovery, the Colorado Division of Insurance, and United Policyholders will join the panel to answer your questions. Please share this with anyone who may be interested. www.facebook.com/events/1406937206389287

"What would have mattered, [Mountain View Fire Chief] Beebe says, is better communication with other Boulder County agencies on different radio systems.

"They can talk to some people, they can't talk to all the people," said Beebe. "And that has been a problem as long as I've been in this business. If you look at the radio systems in this state, it's extremely fragmented, and in Boulder County, agencies that work under this dispatch center can talk to the agencies that work on this dispatch center. But if that agency worked for different dispatch center, there's no guarantee that that we're going to have interoperability or communications between those units."
'I hope this event serves as a wake-up call': Fire chief pleads for change following Marshall Fire

We had the same problem during the Lower North Fork Fire, and a major change was made to Jefferson County's communications, with the consolidation of dispatch to Jeffcom911 and change to CodeRED for emergency notifications, among other things. It's improved, but we still had issues during the Elephant Butte Fire in Evergreen.

It's on us as homeowners to make sure we are signed up for CodeRED emergency alerts, to check/update those settings regularly (if you change phone #s, or carriers for example) and be checking reliable information sources (we have them listed on our website), but also on our emergency agencies (in this case, the sheriff's offices) to ensure they are working properly.