Colorado
How to prepare for a wildfire evacuation in Colorado
Preparing to evacuate because of a wildfire is now a year-round reality in Colorado, with destructive, deadly wildfires possible every month of the year, according to state officials.
Colorado’s “core wildfire season” is now 78 days longer than it was 50 years ago, according to the state Division of Fire Prevention & Control, and state forest service experts estimate nearly half of all Coloradans are at risk from wildfires.
Residents can prepare for a possible wildfire evacuation or a pre-evacuation warning by gathering important supplies and documents and making their home as fire-resistant as possible through these guidelines from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Colorado State Forest Service and Colorado Springs Fire Department.
Supplies for wildfire emergency kit or go-bag
- Three-day supply of water (1 gallon per person per day) and non-perishable food
- First aid kit and sanitation supplies, including toilet paper and baby wipes
- Flashlight, battery-powered radio such as a NOAA Weather Radio and extra batteries
- Extra set of car keys, credit cards and cash
- Extra eyeglasses, contacts, prescriptions and a week’s supply of necessary medications
- Important documents and phone numbers, including insurance information
- Printed map with evacuation routes marked in case your phone dies
- Valuables or irreplaceable items you can easily carry
- Personal electronic devices and chargers
- A pair of old shoes and flashlight in case of a sudden evacuation at night
- Other items needed by your family, such as baby supplies, games and activities for children, pet supplies, two-way radios and a manual can opener
What to do during a wildfire pre-evacuation warning
- Be ready to leave at a moment’s notice and monitor local news for updates.
- Listen to your instincts. If you think you should evacuate even if you haven’t received an official notice, evacuate now.
- Back your car into the garage or park it facing the direction of escape.
- Put your emergency kit, important items and valuable papers inside your car.
- Wear protective clothing outside, such as sturdy shoes, cotton or wool clothing, long pants and a shirt, gloves and a handkerchief over your face.
- Put your pets in one room so you can find them easily if you need to evacuate.
- Set up temporary housing at a friend or family member’s home outside of the evacuation area.
- Close outside doors, windows and vents but leave them unlocked.
- Close inside doors to prevent drafts.
- Shut off natural gas or propane at the source.
- Connect garden hoses to outside faucets and fill any pools, hot tubs, tubs, garbage cans or large containers with water.
- Remove flammable drapes and curtains and close all shutters and blinds.
- Move flammable furniture to the center of your home, away from windows and sliding glass doors.
- Move flammable items outside your home, like patio furniture, children’s toys or firewood, as far from the house as possible.
- Leave interior and exterior lights on so firefighters can see in smoky conditions.
- Shut off the air conditioning and sprinkler system.
- Disconnect automatic garage door openers so they can still be opened if the power goes out, but leave them closed.
- Check on your neighbors to make sure they’re preparing to leave.
Colorado
Driver dies days after head-on collision in Colorado Springs; surviving driver may have been involved in a race, police say
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – One person is dead after unwittingly getting in the middle of a car race over the weekend.
Police say the victim was traveling westbound on Briargate Boulevard near Lexington Drive when an eastbound car slammed into them head-on.
“Preliminary information indicated that the eastbound vehicle had been engaged in a speed contest with another vehicle prior to the collision,” the Colorado Springs Police Department wrote in a blotter post on the crash.
Both drivers were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but at the time they were transported, the injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
“It was later reported that the driver of the westbound vehicle died as a result of complications related to surgery stemming from the crash,” police said.
CSPD’s Major Crash Team is investigating the head-on collision. Speed is suspected as a factor in the crash.
There’s currently no word on whether the surviving driver will face charges.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Colorado voters will be asked in November whether or not state laws should change on how youth sports are organized and who is allowed to have certain surgeries in the state.
Protect Kids Colorado (PKC) is an organization that worked to get initiatives 109 and 110 on the ballot. Kevin Lundberg, a republican and former Colorado State Senator and State Representative, serves on the organization’s Board of Directors.
According to it’s website, PKC “is a grassroots, We the People movement to educate, unify, and mobilize … any concerned citizen to protect kids from becoming victims of a dangerous and false ideology.”
Several LGBTQ+ advocates in Colorado oppose the initiatives, including One Colorado. On Instagram, the organization called the measures “dangerous” and “anti-trans.”
Initiative 109 asks voters to make a new state law, requiring students compete on sports teams aligned with their biological sex, starting in kindergarten and lasting through higher education. There would be an exception for females to join male teams if there is no female team available. Schools and athletic associations would have to designate teams as male, female or coeducational.
Initiative 110 seeks to prohibit biological sex-altering surgery on minors. Doctors would not be allowed to provide such procedures, and public insurance companies, including Medicaid reimbursement, would not be allowed to pay for them.
Leaders with Inside Out Youth Services (IOYS), an LGBTQ+ advocacy group based in Colorado Springs, say these measures would harm young people.
“The message that this would send to our young people is that they matter less than their peers,” said Ollie Glessner with IOYS. “It would send the message that they don’t exist, their identities don’t exist and aren’t worth protecting.”
Erin Lee, Executive Director for PKC, says the measures secure protections that previous state legislative proposals have sought to secure but failed.
“These are not right versus left issues, these are just right versus wrong issues. And so we wanted to give the people a way to still put these common sense safeguards in place for children,” Lee said.
Similar proposals are being considered by congress within the SAVE Act.
The election is November 3.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
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