Recent wildfires in southern California have people in our region asking if we are prepared to face a similar incident. Here we offer links to resources, as well as a Frequently Asked Questions section, to help answer these questions and guide you.
Action you can take
Sign up for Peak Alerts
Sign up for Peak Alerts to receive official emergency notifications based on your home address, your work location, your child(ren)’s school and more. You can pick to receive these alerts via text message, email or phone call. You’ll receive these notifications no matter if you’re at home, at work or on vacation.
Create a communication and emergency plan.
Build an emergency kit and know what the six “Ps” are. Create a go-bag. Download plans and checklists at Colorado Springs Wildfire Ready.
Wildland Urban Interface mitigation
Know if you reside in the Wildland Urban Interface and how to practice mitigation techniques if you do.
Evacuation Preparedness
Understand the different evacuation alert levels, how we use zone-based evacuation procedures, and what to do before, during and after evacuation. Visit the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management's Evacuation website for more information on how to prepare for a potential evacuation.
Actions taken by local government agencies
- The City and CSU have deployed widespread mitigation tactics in partnership with residents/HOAs/neighborhoods
- The City through the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management, continually plans and evaluates the best ways to respond to a widespread wildfire. This includes coordination between agencies, public safety messaging, and advanced evacuation planning.
- Our primary focus in a wildfire remains preservation of life. While rebuilding homes and losing possessions is devastating, it doesn’t compare to the loss of a family member, friend or neighbor. Our number one priority in all this work is you—saving the people impacted by that incident.
Questions we’re receiving
Planning/Resources
What has the City learned from large wildfires like the ones we’re seeing in southern California?
Through our regional office of emergency management and our fire departments, we are continually preparing and planning to respond to these types of incidents. We examine best practices that come from these responses and see if they fit our region’s needs. Our firefighters constantly train. We look at ways to more safely and efficiently conduct evacuations. We examine new and improved ways to equip people with accurate, timely information so they can take action to keep themselves and their families safe.
Is the city prepared for worst case wildfire scenario such as multiple wildfires occurring at the same time during a high wind event and an extremely dry season?
Yes, we are prepared. An updated evacuation plan was recently reviewed by law enforcement and fire.
In addition, we’ve started advanced evacuation planning specifically to address fast-moving, wind-driven, wildfires in urban areas similar to the Marshall Fire and recent fires in LA County.
We are identifying new and alternative traffic management and emergency response strategies to maximize safety during evacuations within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).
Will the city expand efforts to clear hazardous vegetation and create defensible spaces, particularly in vulnerable areas near neighborhoods and parks?
The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) Wildfire Mitigation Section has been actively treating and expanding mitigation efforts throughout the Wildland Urban Interface. The CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section evaluates risk, existing vegetation, feasibility, proximity to housing and high value infrastructure to create priority areas and future projects. These efforts have been implemented on HOA/neighborhood lands, private property, open spaces, public parks, and county lands. The CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section collaboratively works with City Parks, City Forestry, other City departments, and surrounding jurisdictions on wildfire mitigation projects.
The homeowner is responsible for their property, and they also need to “share the responsibility” in making sure their property is properly mitigated. They can call the CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section to schedule a free onsite consultation of their property. A CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section representative will come out and meet with the homeowner to walk their property and discuss what wildfire mitigation efforts need to take place so the homeowner can reduce their wildfire risk.
What is the 2025 budget for wildfire mitigation?
The 2025 budget for wildfire mitigation is $2.4 million. That includes salary and benefits, operational costs, seasonal employees, and other miscellaneous costs. This amount comes from sales taxes, TABOR and grant funds.
How much has the city spent each year over the last five years on wildfire mitigation?
In 2020, the budgeted amount for wildfire mitigation was $621,360. It grew to $767,885 in 2021, then to $1.375 million in 2022. In 2023 and 2024, that number was nearly $2.8 million.
Are there opportunities to collaborate with state and federal agencies for increased funding for wildfire prevention?
The CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section is working with State and Federal partners to apply for funding and create agreements to facilitate wildfire mitigation efforts and education.
The CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section is actively applying for wildfire mitigation grants through FEMA, Colorado Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Colorado State Forest Service private organizations and any other opportunity that is available.
Efforts between the CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section and the United States Forest Service, Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado Springs Utilities, and Department of Defense are active. We continue to work collaboratively with these stakeholders, and we continue to seek funding to bolster wildfire mitigation efforts and cross boundary treatments in the City of Colorado Springs wildland urban interface and outside the wildland urban interface if it poses a threat to the City.
The CSFD Wildfire Mitigation Section actively seeks, researches and applies for different opportunities to increase funding for wildfire mitigation efforts.
Water/Utilities
How does Colorado Springs Utilities ensure adequate water supply and pressure when faced with wildfires?
Colorado Springs Utilities (Springs Utilities) is dedicated to ensuring the community's safety and the reliable delivery of utility services, even during wildfires. Springs Utilities water system is designed to meet best practices to deliver water to customers and for firefighting needs.
The utility’s service territory is divided into 55 water pressure zones, each controlled by valves to manage pressure and flow, especially during fire emergencies. The city’s unique terrain and elevation contribute to a higher-pressured water system compared to other cities in the country. Water pressure is continuously monitored to ensure reliability. In emergencies, like the Waldo Canyon Fire, pressure can be increased in specific areas as needed.
Springs Utilities works closely with the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) to assess and meet water needs during firefighting efforts, ensuring seamless coordination.
How does Colorado Springs Utilities manage and protect its utility infrastructure against wildfires?
Springs Utilities takes several measures to enhance its water system to ensure reliable service and protect its watersheds against wildfires
To ensure our water system is reliable, Springs Utilities allocates part of its annual capital budget to water projects aimed at replacing and upgrading existing infrastructure and improving fire flow. This ensures the safe and reliable delivery of water to meet customers’ demands and for firefighting.
Collaboration with CSFD helps prioritize critical areas for water pressure and hydrant supply upgrades based on their guidance and support through collaborative research and engineering.
Springs Utilities utilizes multiple resources and partnerships to protect water quality and infrastructure within our local community and watersheds:
- Hazard identification: Springs Utilities works with a multitude of local, state and federal partners to help identify and mitigate risks within the City of Colorado Springs, communities with Springs Utilities’ infrastructure and on watersheds in the mountainous areas. Many of these collaborative risk-reduction partnerships have been ongoing for more than 40 years.
- Forest health and wildfire mitigation: Springs Utilities partners with and collaborates on landscape vegetative fuels mitigation projects that help reduce wildfire risk through mechanical treatment methods and prescribed fire. These efforts restore forest health while making landscapes less susceptible to wildfire and post-fire impacts.
- Wildland Fire Team: The team, composed of employees from Springs Utilities, Pikes Peak America’s Mountain and the City of Colorado Springs, is trained to National Wildland Coordinating Group standards. The team can provide initial attack on wildland fires on Springs Utilities property, respond quickly to fires in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) and support local fire departments efforts through wildfire response and mutual aid requests.
- Wildfire risk collaboration and education: Springs Utilities supports awareness and wildfire risk collaborative partnerships to encourage wildfire risk-reduction initiatives and education programs in and adjacent to the 11 counties where it operates and infrastructure exists.
How does Colorado Springs Utilities work to ensure the city’s hydrants remain operational?
Springs Utilities ensures the city’s hydrants remain operational through several key measures:
- Maintenance responsibility: Springs Utilities maintains 20,000 public fire hydrants, which are fed by the same water mains that deliver water to customers.
- Hydrant Criticality Model: In collaboration with CSFD and the Fire Marshal, Springs Utilities uses a Hydrant Criticality Model to identify critical hydrants. Approximately 2,200 hydrants are considered critical and are inspected annually. Non-critical hydrants are inspected every five years. The hydrant list is revisited every five years with CSFD to re-analyze the system.
- Training and collaboration: The utility partners with CSFD to provide intensive training for firefighters and first responders. This training covers hydrant labeling protocols, hydrant spacing and proper tool usage.
- System redundancy: Redundancy is built into the hydrant system to ensure firefighting assistance can be met throughout the service territory.
- Preventative maintenance and inspections: While regular inspections and maintenance are crucial, other factors such as freezing weather, misuse by contractors, vandalism and unreported vehicle collisions can impact hydrant performance.
Should Colorado Springs Utilities bury its electric distribution lines to protect against wildfires?
While underground electric systems are more protected from strong winds and falling trees, they are not immune from weather, electrical fires and excavator damage. They are also more difficult to repair, often prolonging outage duration.
More than 70% of Springs Utilities electric distribution system is underground, compared to an industry average of 50%. The utility continuously evaluates overhead lines for potential undergrounding, considering budget, corridor and operational compatibility.
When weighing the merits of burying overhead lines, cost is a major concern. The utility estimates the cost to underground the remainder of its electric system to be in excess of $2 billion.
When comparing the reliability of overhead and underground systems, the numbers are similar. Approximately 51% of the utility's outages occur in the overhead system, while 49% are due to faults in the underground system.
Evacuation
Traffic congestion on the west side of I-25 poses significant challenges for emergency response and evacuation during a crisis. Are there plans to improve traffic flow, create alternate evacuation routes, and increase public awareness of evacuation protoc
In addition to identification of new and alternative traffic management and emergency response strategies during WUI evacuations, the Advanced Evacuation Plan project will also include development of a region-wide public messaging campaign addressing wind-driven urban wildfires.
Has the city invested in smart traffic technology or community drills to enhance preparedness?
For the last 12 years, we’ve held annual community evacuation drills for neighborhoods in the WUI. The most recent drill in 2024 was held in the Broadmoor Bluffs neighborhoods.
We are currently incorporating research-based techniques for building resilience in our communities.
Insurance
What is the City doing to ensure homeowners insurance rates won’t skyrocket in the case of wildfire? What can local government do to work with insurers, residents, and state policymakers to address this growing crisis?
The City and County works with state and federal legislators to support laws and bills that protect consumers. Further, some insurance companies give discounts for residents living in the Wildland Urban Interface who undertake wildfire mitigation tactics or use “hardened” construction materials in and on their homes. In other cases, insurance companies require some of these actions from homeowners to maintain homeowner’s insurance. Please check with your specific insurer for details, requirements and discounts.