We're a group of neighbors from the Lyons, Colorado area who are volunteering to help us all become better prepared to help each other deal with any future emergencies.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2023:

Lyons Prepared founding members are from all around the Lyons area and the Lyons Fire Protection District (LFPD). These volunteers recognized the need for a redundant communication system in case another natural disaster like the 2013 flood occurred again. As a result, Lyons Prepared was formed. Each volunteer maintains a MURS radio equipped to listen and communicate with an incident command center operated by LFPD. The purpose of this volunteer group is to communicate with LFPD in an emergency when communications go down; relay information from their respective locations to LFPD; communicate accurate information and dispel rumors within their neighborhoods; and to check on neighbors in times of emergency. 

For almost 10 years, Lyons Prepared volunteers have trained to operate radios and conducted radio tests to maintain that network. And like everything, emergency communications are evolving and improving, e.g., opt-in reverse 9-1-1 phone calls, text messages, and email alerts are now available in Boulder and Larimer Counties. If you have not signed up for one or both County alerts, LP encourages citizens of the LFPD (in Larimer and Boulder County) to do so. 

Like emergency communications, Lyons Prepared is also evolving. The volunteer group is transitioning to be a part of the LFPD Auxiliary to provide support as needed. And volunteers will continue to maintain the radio network. This is especially useful for areas in the Fire District where communications are "spotty" due to our mountainous terrain. The LFPD is seeking volunteers to participate in the Auxiliary for a variety of community-oriented education, communication, and outreach initiatives in support of the Fire District's mission. Interested citizens can apply to volunteer with the Auxiliary. Please reach out to LFPD to learn more please call the LFPD office at 303-823-6611 (Mon - Fri, 8 AM to 4 PM) or send an email to:  admin@lyonsfire.org

Preparing our neighborhoods

We're working to create groups of people in each of our neighborhoods (see map below) within the Lyons Fire Protection District to coordinate our preparation and response to any kind of emergency that may impact us, for example, heavy rains and flooding, major snow storms, wildfires, and so on.

Initial focus: Communication

Our initial focus is to create voluntary communication trees so that we can quickly share information in case of an emergency. To achieve this, we are distributing emergency radios to the points of contacts in the participating neighborhoods.

This is important when an emergency situation is evolving rapidly, especially if normal communication channels aren't functioning well, such as when we lost phones, cell service, and power/internet during the 2013 flood.

Getting messages to everyone quickly

The idea is that the incident commander from the Lyons Fire District or the Boulder County Sheriff's Office can send critical messages and updates to and receive messages from a point of contact in each neighborhood. That person can then distribute the messages to a small team of people in the neighborhood, who can in turn share it with all participating neighbors. This ensures that these messages get to as many people as possible within a short period of time. 

Lyons Prepared: An introduction

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Our neighborhoods

These are our proposed Lyons Prepared neighborhoods. Tap map to view larger.

The neighborhoods are defined solely based on the ability to effectively share emergency communications within an area, so the boundaries may not reflect actual neighborhood, property, or legal definitions. This is a work in progress and may be adjusted.