Officials extol Code Red, an emergency alert system

Officials in Lincoln County are urging residents to sign up for Code Red, a service that sends out emergency alerts, as fire season gets underway.

The web-based service allows emergency personnel to contact residents with up-to-date alerts on via email, text message, voice calls or mobile phone app notifications. Given the shift from home phones to mobile phones, officials see it as the best way to reach residents with pressing information.

“We can do a reverse 911, but only if you have a landline,” said County Commissioner Jerry Bennett on July 14. “Code Red is way more effective.”

Bennett touted the service during discussion preceding the approval of stage two fire restrictions in Lincoln County. Firefighters are currently battling a blaze of more than 1,000 acres in the Keeler Rattle area about eight miles outside of Troy. Four pre-evacuation notices were issued as of the commissioners’ July 14 meeting.

Bennett said the technology behind Code Red allowed officials to target specific areas within the county. Alerts include information about wildfires, but also storms, floods and other emergencies, he said.

Brent Teske, the county’s emergency management head, endorsed Code Rode as well.

“It’s been very beneficial in the past. We’ve used it for law enforcement situations, fires and floods,” he said. “If you’re out of town or somewhere else, you will get that notification.”

To sign up, residents can head to the county’s website at www.lincolncountymt.us. The registration link is at the bottom of the webpage. Residents can use a Google or social media account to ease the process.

“If I can do it, anybody can do it,” Bennett said.