To Receive Emergency Notifications, Sign Up Now at BoCoAlert.org

Pre-evacuation warnings and evacuation orders can be sent to people at their landline phone, to cell phones as calls or texts, and to email addresses.

If you have a landline, that phone number is automatically registered with the county’s alert system. The phone companies provide updated lists on a quarterly basis.

To receive emergency alerts on a cell phone or via email, go to BoCoAlert.org to register those points of contact. You will need to create an account if you’ve not already done this. If you’ve registered in the past, you might want to log in and verify that all contact information is current (see below).

**Even if you have a landline, it’s recommended that you register your cell and email as well so that there are more ways to reach you **(e.g., in a fire, sometimes phone poles burn down, so a landline call may not go through while a text would likely reach you).

It is also highly recommended that each individual at an address create a separate account with their own contact information so that everyone directly receives emergency information in case you are not all together at the time.

Please note that we at Boulder Mountain Fire do not maintain the county’s 911 Alert list and are not able to assist with any questions or problems related to registering.

Verify That You’re Already Registered for Emergency Notifications

If you signed up for alerts previously, you can check if you’re signed up for the county’s emergency alert system by doing the following:

1. Go to www.BoCoAlert.org
2. Click “Sign In” at the top right of the home page, then scroll down to the bottom of the sign-in page. Click “Forgot Username.” You’ll be prompted to enter the email address used to register for emergency notifications.
3. Enter your email address and click OK. (3a) If you enter an email address that is not associated with a registration, you immediately get a message that says “The email is invalid,” which would mean you’re not registered (at least not with that email address; if you have multiple email addresses, be sure to check each one). (3b) If you enter an email address that is associated with a registration, you’ll immediately get a message that says “Email has been sent. Please check your inbox.” That indicates you are already signed up to receive emergency notifications from the county. And you’ll get an email with your username.

Make Sure Your Cell Phone Won’t Block Emergency Notifications

Are you at risk of missing an emergency notification because, like many people, you don’t answer calls from phone numbers you don’t recognize? Or maybe you block incoming texts and calls at night and at other times? Now you can address that issue.

Boulder County Communications has provided us with the emergency notification system’s caller ID so that you can add it to your phone to help avoid the potential of their calls being blocked.

**The caller ID for all emergency notifications is 303-441-1400. **

Here are links to information about how to make sure that certain contacts can bypass your cell phone’s do not disturb and silent settings. The basic process is to create a contact for the emergency notification number in your contacts/address book, and then adjust various settings to always allow that contact to get through:

Apple iOS 18 (see the bottom of the page, “Allow calls from emergency contacts when notifications are silenced”): https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/allow-or-silence-notifications-for-a-focus-iph21d43af5b/18.0/ios/18.0

Android (see “set who can interrupt you”): https://support.google.com/android/answer/9069335?hl=en&ref_topic=7651002#zippy=%2Cset-who-can-interrupt-you

Configure Your Phone to Receive Wireless Emergency Alerts

Ensure that your cell phone settings are configured to received wireless emergency alerts (WEAs). WEA is a public safety system that allows customers who own compatible mobile devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area. WEA does not require registration. Additional information is available here: https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/wireless-emergency-alerts