Clear Creek and Jefferson counties held a May 2 wildfire evacuation drill to test community readiness
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The Risk Reduction Coordinator for Evergreen Fire Rescue, Einar Jensen, pointing out the subdivisions along Highway 103 that were participating in the May 2 wildfire evacuation exercise.
Gilpin County Undersheriff Greg Demo was an observer at the wildfire evacuation exercise on May 2. Demo along with Gilpin Office of Emergency Management Director Steven Mingura were present at the event to observe and learn.
Text of the notification sent by Jeffcom911 regarding the wildfire evacuation drill on May 2, 2026. The notification was sent to 1,300 residents who signed up to participate in the evacuation exercise.
An evacuation checkpoint along Highway 103 near Bergen Park. In one of the first drills in the area, residents and emergency services staged an exercise to practice evacuating subdivisions in Clear Creek and Jefferson counties.
PEAK TO PEAK – Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties conducted a wildfire evacuation drill on May 2, 2026.
The drill consisted of alerts and public participation in evacuating a select set of subdivisions on the north side of Blue Sky. Emergency services organizations from Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties collaborated on the exercise, working together to direct traffic and monitor the effectiveness of the evacuation drill.
The drill was planned to coincide with National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day. Colorado has declared May as Wildfire Awareness Month to encourage more Coloradans to live wildfire-ready, which is paramount to coexisting in a fire-tolerant environment.
Over 1,300 residents, representing about 560 households in Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties along Highway 103, signed up to participate in the drill.
Evergreen Fire Rescue recruited residents through letters sent to the four neighborhoods along Highway 103. Emergency services representatives also attended HOA meetings and utilized their neighborhood ambassadors’ networks to spread the word.
There were community meetings before the exercise to educate participants about evacuation basics and how the drill was going to be conducted.
On the day of the drill, participants were sent a pre-evacuation notice from Jeffcom911, and then a half hour later, an immediate evacuation notice. Participants could leave after either notice, and were instructed to put together go-bags to take with them.
Evergreen Fire Rescue Chief Mike Weege emphasized that in a real wildfire situation, people shouldn’t rely exclusively on notices to evacuate. He said “If you see the smoke or feel threatened, then just leave. Don’t wait for a notification. It might not ever come if the communications systems are down.”
Post-exercise feedback showed that for some residents, the notices went to their spam folder. They wouldn’t have seen the notification if they hadn’t been looking for it. The lesson learned was to seek to verify notifications when signing up for a reverse 911 network.
Emergency services personnel had set up checkpoints along the evacuation route. Once the evacuation started they collected data about how long it took for residents to reach certain locations.
Drones were also used to visually show the length of the evacuation traffic. The collected information will be used to identify chokepoints and bottlenecks along the route that will need to be addressed.
Einar Jensen, the Risk Reduction Coordinator for Evergreen Fire Rescue, said that identifying and resolving bottlenecks along evacuation routes was critical for the safety of the evacuees. He gave an example of victims of the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018, who died in their vehicles when they were stuck in traffic trying to escape.
The exercise also gave the emergency services agencies an opportunity to work together across jurisdictional boundaries and coordinate their actions, which would be required during an actual uncontrolled wildfire situation. Sheriff deputies actually went door to door in the exercise neighborhoods to simulate evacuation protocols.
“Wildfire danger is always huge up here, and this year is going to make it a lot worse,” Clear Creek County Sheriff Ron Thornton said.
Evacuation preparation is an essential part of living in wildfire country. As well as assembling go-bags, residents need to become familiar with evacuation routes and meetup locations. Furniture can be replaced but people and pets can’t.
Emergency services agencies participating in the exercise included Clear Creek Fire Authority, Evergreen Fire Rescue, Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The Gilpin County Sheriff's Office and Office of Emergency Management sent observers to evaluate and learn from the exercise.
Use the search term: “wildfire evacuation checklist” for more information on putting together a “go-bag”. The Gilpin County Office of Emergency Management or the Gilpin County CSU Extension Service are also good resources for living safely in wildfire country.
