The next time Peak Alerts pings your phone, a new online resource can show where the emergency is happening down to the address.

The newly launched Public Information Map is overseen by the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management. According to Director Andrew Notbohm, the map updates every minute with information from the regional emergency alert system.

“It is designed to give residents real-time, verified information in one place,” he said.

The map could help in scenarios like wildfire evacuation notices, when the public needs to know the specific geographical area affected. The Public Information Map, which can be accessed at pproem.com/alerts, has both a search and zoom function to show alert areas down to specific addresses. The map can also show information like an active fire perimeter and shelter locations.

Call for that kind of specificity has already gone out on a wildfire this year in neighboring Fremont County.

When evacuations posted for the 24 fire in March, some residents near Penrose told fire officials at a town hall that up-to-date information on the fire was difficult to find across different sources, including social media. Many were unaware of the voluntary signup for emergency alerts before an emergency actually struck.

In El Paso County, only about 20% of residents are signed up for Peak Alerts, the emergency notification system run by the El Paso-Teller County 911 Authority, according to Public Information Officer Ben Bills.

“Unfortunately, our opt-in rates for this system are very low,” he said.

Notbohm said the new mapping system, which is available to residents in El Paso and Teller counties, is meant to alleviate confusion and provide a resource to people who may not be signed up for Peak Alerts.

In a high-interest event like a wildfire, the map can also be a resource for people who may not be in the area but still want or need information, freeing up the 911 call system.

The Pikes Peak area is not the first in Colorado to launch a similar tool. Notbohm said a similar system was active during the 2021 Marshall fire in Boulder County, where more than 37,000 people were evacuated and over 1,000 structures burned.

Boulder County’s map saw heavy traffic during the disaster, with over a million hits in two days, said Notbohm. He said the Pikes Peak map was also designed to handle spikes in user traffic.

Only a handful of other Colorado counties have implemented an interactive map. Emergency managers still rely on opt-in alerts and the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, which most frequently pushes notifications like Amber Alerts.

Notbohm said his office was motivated to create the map because of lessons from the 2025 Los Angeles fires and the history of emergency response in the Pikes Peak area.

“We just have a lot of experience with disasters, and it’s a priority in large population centers,” said Notbohm.

To sign up for Peak Alerts, visit PeakAlerts.org.