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Wildfire Safety
Arvada Fire contains areas within our service boundary that could be impacted by wildfire. If you live near the wildland-urban interface or near open grassy spaces, your family and your property could be affected by wildfire.
Arvada Fire has two types of wildfire threats that it must contend with. The first set is open space or undeveloped space surrounded by good roads and populated areas. This type of brush fire is much more likely to start but is much less likely to cause catastrophic damage due to the limited amount of fuel. A much more prevalent danger is a brush fire that starts in unpopulated areas that move into occupied areas. This type of wildfire has the ability to cause significant damage to infrastructure, buildings, and people.
Arvada Fire faces this type of hazard, mainly in the northwest portion of the service area, with a moderate probability of occurring.
Emergency Notifications
LookoutAlert is the official emergency notification system of the regional collaborative of Jefferson County and all cities within it, such as the Cities of Arvada and Wheat Ridge, in addition to the City and County of Broomfield and the City of Westminster. Through LookoutAlert, emergency responders are able to provide emergency and public safety messages to residents.
Visit LookoutAlert.co to register for alerts. Residents who are already subscribed to emergency alerts in the CodeRED system will be automatically transferred to the new system. By creating a profile, you can update your address to receive location-specific alerts, indicate which types of alerts you want to receive, and select how you would like to be notified.
What can residents do to protect their property from a wildfire?
Defensible space — the buffer you create between a building on your property and the vegetation and wildland area that surrounds it — is essential to improving your home's chance of surviving a wildfire. Defensible space slows or stops the spread of wildfire and protects your home from catching fire either from embers, direct flame, or radiant heat. Effective defensible space also provides a safe area for firefighters to work in, too.
View our WUI Mitigation Checklist for tips on mitigation efforts in all three zones around your property. Some simple reminders for residents and homeowners include:
- Clean leaves, pine needles and anything that can burn from roofs and gutters.
- Where possible, remove flammable items within 30 feet of the home including firewood piles, portable propane tanks, and dry and dead vegetation.
- Plant vegetation with high moisture content around buildings. Only use non-flammable materials, like rock, around vegetation. Keep anything that can burn at least 5 feet from buildings.
- Remove items stored under decks or porches; replace vegetation in these areas with rock or gravel.|
- Report any downed power lines or fires by immediately calling 911.
Neighborhood Mitigation Planning Guide
Arvada Fire has many resources for government entities, land managers, and homeowner’s associations interested in reducing risks from low- and moderate-intensity wildfires. The Neighborhood Mitigation Planning Guide provides general information, from mitigation recommendations to fire science and ecology, that is useful to create a fire-adapted fire district. A fire-adapted district is more resilient when wildfires occur.