Emergency Notifications: ALERT Napa County & IPAWS

What is ALERT Napa County and why is it important?

ALERT Napa County is a system that enables the agencies within Napa County to provide you with critical and non-critical information in a variety of situations. This includes situations such as severe weather, planned and unexpected road closures, missing persons, evacuations, natural disasters, and public health concerns. Many agencies across Napa County, including Emergency Services, the local jurisdictions, and Office of Education use ALERT Napa County to communicate with the public.

Alert Napa County sends notifications via text message, application push notifications, TTY and/or email communication. How you receive information, depends on how you customize your account preferences.

How can I get help creating or customizing my profile?

The Office of Emergency Services is happy to assist. Please contact us either by calling 707-299-1592 or by e-mailing [email protected]. 

Who sends messages through ALERT Napa County and what kind of information does it provide?  

Multiple agencies and departments across Napa County utilize ALERT Napa County to provide information to the public. The County of Napa maintains three ALERT Napa County accounts to provide critical and/or life safety information to the public. These accounts include:

• Napa County Fire: information regarding red flags, smoke visible, vegetation fire, prescribed burn
• Napa County Office of Emergency Services: information about extreme weather (ex: Red Flag Warnings, heat emergencies, Flash Flood Warnings, etc..), emergency events (including evacuation orders and warnings), public health and safety advisories.
• Napa County Sheriff’s Office: police activity, traffic accidents, road closures, and emergency information as necessary 

There are many other departments and agencies across Napa County that provide messaging to the community as well. You can subscribe to receive messages by creating a member profile and choosing to receive customized notifications from the agencies of your choice.

*Fire, law, and EMS agencies routinely respond to emergency events that do not meet the criteria for mass notification through ALERT Napa County. None of these accounts are intended to provide notification of all emergency or law enforcement related events happening in the County. * 

I want to get more notifications about emergency activities than the County currently provides through ALERT Napa County and social media. Are there any other tools I can use to get more up-to-date information? 

While Napa County Office of Emergency Services does not endorse any particular third-party apps, there are a number of resources available online and through your phone’s app store that provide near real-time updates about emergency events as they are happening in the community.  

These apps notify subscribers of emergency calls and show maps of where the incident is occurring. Additionally, there are several emergency radio scanner apps exist that allow citizens to listen in to publicly available emergency communications between law, fire, and EMS agencies. Scanner traffic is a direct source of information as it happens, but this information is always unconfirmed until it is shared through official channels. 

DISCLAIMER: These “real time” apps provide raw, unconfirmed information as events are unfolding. This information has often not been vetted for public release and should not be confused with official communication from public safety agencies.  For example, through radio scanner apps, response agencies may discuss potential for evacuation and evaluate expanding threats. This discussion does not constitute an official evacuation order or even indicate that an evacuation will be ordered; it may be a routine tactical discussion. Anyone tuning into a live scanner feed or reading a transcription of a feed on social media should not assume that everything they are hearing is accurate.  

Resources for maintaining additional situational awareness include but are not limited to:

• PulsePoint
• Broadcastify
• Alert Wildfire Cameras

How do I unsubscribe from ALERT Napa County? 

You can text “Stop” to 88911 or click unsubscribe in any emails received from ALERT Napa County.  

If you have made a member profile with ALERT Napa County and wish to delete your account or update your information and/or preferences, you can do so by signing in on the ALERT Napa County sign-in page.

Will I be notified about evacuations from Genasys Protect (Zonehaven) or ALERT Napa County?

The County will continue to provide notifications about evacuation orders and warnings, as well as shelter in place orders, through ALERT Napa County. The map of evacuated areas will be displayed on Genasys Protect and this link will be provided in ALERT Napa County messages. You can view the most up-to date evacuation information by visiting Genasys Protect. 

What is the difference between ALERT Napa County and WEA/IPAWS? 

Alert Napa County is a system in which you can opt in to receive critical and non-critical information in a variety of situations from agencies within Napa County. Alert Napa County allows you to choose who you receive messages from, how you receive those messages and when you receive the messages. 

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA): Consumers do not need to sign up to receive WEA messages. WEA allows government officials to send text-like messages targeted to specific geographic areas to customers who own WEA compatible mobile devices alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area. 

Wireless companies volunteer to participate in WEA, which is the result of a unique public/private partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), and the United States wireless industry in order to enhance public safety.

Can I provide feedback to the County about what is written in an ALERT Napa County message? 

The County’s Office of Emergency Services welcomes feedback about how to improve the clarity and accuracy of emergency communication. If you have additional questions or comments about the content of ALERT Napa County messages, send an email to [email protected].

General Information on the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)

The Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS) is FEMA's national system for local alerting that provides authenticated emergency and life-saving information to the public through mobile phones using Wireless Emergency Alerts, to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System, and on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Radio.

Find answers to frequently asked questions about IPAWS on the FEMA website here.

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