Summit County Comprehensive Emergency Evacuation Assessment

Thank you for visiting the Summit County Comprehensive Emergency Evacuation Assessment project website. Here you will find information about the project’s background and on-going deliverables. You can continue scrolling down to browse through the full content of the website or toggle to different sections using the navigation bar above.

The primary objective of the Summit County Comprehensive Emergency Evacuation Assessment is to identify the wildfire and hazard risk and limitations of the transportation network during potential evacuations and develop operational and communication strategies to deploy in evacuations.

Living in the mountains surrounded by National Forest lands is an amazing place to be, but, like anywhere, it’s not without its risks. Summit County does not experience floods, hail, or tornados like other parts of Colorado, but wildfires are a big concern.

On June 12, 2018, a wildfire ignited on Buffalo Mountain, just above the Wildernest neighborhood. A vigilant resident reported the fire, prompting Summit County to swiftly issue alerts through the Summit County Alert System (SC Alert). Mandatory evacuations were ordered for the upper portions of the Wildernest and Mesa Cortina neighborhoods, while the rest of the area remained under a pre-evacuation warning.

Air support was immediately requested, with multiple helicopters and slurry bombers attacking the fire aggressively. On the ground, 50 firefighters worked tirelessly to contain the blaze, with over 100 more joining the fight throughout the day. Roadblocks were established to prevent residents from re-entering evacuation zones, ensuring public safety and security.

As the fire spread, uncertainty loomed—residents feared for their homes and the critical infrastructure in its path, valued at over $1 billion. However, the aggressive firefighting efforts paid off. By evening, the fire had significantly subsided, and smoke was minimal.

In the following days, a clearer picture emerged. The fire had come dangerously close to homes, but the rapid response from Summit County, combined with extensive wildfire mitigation projects completed years before this fire broke out, proved to be the deciding factor in protecting the community. Previous fire mitigation measures in the area had created defensible space and fuel breaks, allowing firefighters to mount an effective defense. These efforts became a national model for proactive wildfire management, demonstrating the life- and property-saving power of pre-fire planning and collaboration.

Defensible space is a common term in fire prevention. It creates a fire break between the forest and property, giving firefighters a chance to save property in a wildfire.

A few years ago, after the pine beetle outbreak came through and killed many lodgepole pine trees in nearby forests, it was determined that property adjacent to national forest lands, including the Wildernest and Mesa Cortina neighborhoods, needed to have defensible space. A wildfire break was cut and all dead and living trees were removed. While most residents were resistant to trees being removed, it was this defensible space that helped firefighters keep the wildfire from going into the neighborhoods.

The study area includes all communities and roadways in Summit County. The project will focus on critical routes for evacuations, including but not limited to Interstate 70, State Highways 6, 9, and 91, Swan Mountain Road and other major arterials, as well as connections to these critical roadways.

Through collaborative stakeholder engagement, the Comprehensive Emergency Evacuation Assessment will assess wildfire challenges, conduct hazard and risk analyses, and evaluate roadway capacity for Summit County. The project team is working with one or more representatives from the following agencies and organizations to inform the development of the assessment:

• American Red Cross

• Arapahoe Basin Ski Area

• Breck Free Ride

• Breckenridge Ski Resort

• Colorado Department of Transportation

• Colorado State Patrol

• Copper Mountain Ski Resort

• I-70 Coalition

• Keystone Ski Resort

• Red White & Blue Fire & EMS

• Summit County

• Summit Fire & EMS

• Summit Station

• Town of Blue River

• Town of Breckenridge

• Town of Dillon

• Town of Frisco

• Town of Keystone

• Town of Silverthorne

• US Forest Service

• Wildfire Council (Colorado State University Extension)

There will be opportunities for public participation throughout the project. Feedback from the public will be used to inform the project and make recommendations. See below for current and upcoming participation activities.

•  We want to hear about your experiences, concerns, and suggestions for the Summit County Comprehensive Emergency Evacuation Assessment. What you tell us will help the County Department of Emergency Services and our community partners to develop policies, programs, and services to meet your needs.

• The public survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. Only one survey response is requested per household. All responses will be kept confidential. The pubic survey will be open until May 15, 2025.
  •  Public Survey: English 
  •  Public Survey: Español 

• Please help our study by also sharing any comments or concerns you have related to roadway constraints for evacuations (e.g., congestion, limited access, etc.) on the map below. The online comment map will be open until May 15, 2025.

Our community event is schedule for June 6 ^th , 2025 at the Silverthorne First Friday Summer Kick Off event! Please check back here for additional details in the coming months.

Please check back here to see project documents as they are made available.

The following is a tentative timeline for the Comprehensive Emergency Evacuation Assessment. Any updates to the schedule will be posted here.