App
Watch Duty
Free real-time wildfire & evacuation app, widely used across the West.
watchduty.orgColorado's most dangerous fires move fast. The East Troublesome Fire grew 100,000+ acres in a night; the Marshall Fire crossed neighborhoods in minutes. No one system is perfect, so the goal is overlapping layers, county alerts, phone alerts, a real-time app, and weather warnings, so a failure in one is caught by another.
The most important and most local layer. Counties send address-specific evacuation orders through systems like CodeRED or Everbridge, but most require you to sign up.
The free federal system (WEA) that pushes evacuation, weather and AMBER alerts to your phone automatically, no signup, but make sure it's switched on.
Apps put live fire location, growth and evacuation status in your pocket, often faster than official channels.
Weather is the early-warning layer, most catastrophic fires happen on Red Flag days. Smoke is a health hazard even far from the flames.
Search "[your county] emergency alerts" and sign up with every phone number and your address (5 min).
Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts in your phone's notification settings (1 min).
Download Watch Duty, allow notifications, and add your county. Look up your Genasys evacuation zone (5 min).
Follow your NWS office for Red Flag Warnings and set up AirNow smoke alerts (3 min).
The families who get out safely are the ones who decided what to do before the phone buzzed. Build your plan now:
Meds, documents, chargers, water, N95 masks, ready by the door in fire season.
Map at least two evacuation routes; mountain roads can close fast.
If you're told to go, or even feel uneasy on a Red Flag day, don't wait.
Defensible space and a hardened home give firefighters a chance to defend it after you leave.
Free real-time wildfire & evacuation app, widely used across the West.
watchduty.orgFind your evacuation zone and its current status (formerly Zonehaven).
protect.genasys.comNational Weather Service fire-weather watches and warnings.
weather.gov/fireReal-time air quality and wildfire smoke conditions for your area.
airnow.govTip: county emergency-alert sign-ups change platforms from time to time. The reliable way to find yours is to search your county name plus "emergency notifications" or check your county Sheriff's Office or Office of Emergency Management website.
Register with your county's emergency notification system, most Colorado counties use CodeRED or Everbridge, found through the county Sheriff or Office of Emergency Management website. Also enable Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone, install the free Watch Duty app, and look up your Genasys Protect evacuation zone.
Watch Duty is the most widely recommended free app for real-time wildfire and evacuation information. Genasys Protect (formerly Zonehaven) is used by many Colorado counties to show evacuation zones and their status.
Your phone receives federal Wireless Emergency Alerts for major emergencies as long as the feature is enabled in settings. But county opt-in systems like CodeRED reach you with more local, address-specific alerts, so sign up for those separately.
A Red Flag Warning is issued by the National Weather Service when warm temperatures, very low humidity, and strong winds create conditions for extreme fire behavior. Any new fire can spread explosively, it's a signal to be ready to evacuate quickly.