Originally Posted By: Still_Alive
I live within 20 miles of the area of this fire, and didn't hear about this until after it had happened. I realize that's why the police go door to door, but I have this question: does anyone have a strategy to hear about these types of things early on and thereby have a chance to evacuate before the masses? I receive text messages of breaking news and check the local news updates about 2-3 times a day on my mobile device, but in this instance, neither would have helped.


The city I live in has a reverse 911 system that alerts for many things. We have already benefited from this during tornado season, and one train derailment. See CODE RED website

NOAA All Hazard (S.A.M.E) radios will also alert to this if the authorities pass the info along to NOAA.

Both systems also react to "Amber Alerts" when it happens in the area.

I also have a smart phone and tend to check the email and news frequently.

Oh yeah, police/fire/ems scanners work well also.
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