SOUTH FORK—South Fork began a Drug Take Back Program in October of last year and according to Police Chief Don McDonald, it has been a huge success.

“We started it on the National Drug Take Back Day on Oct. 28, 2017. On that day alone, we collected 17 pounds of prescription drugs, which was amazing. Since then the program has really taken off and we sent in our first full container about a week ago. From October until February we collected an additional 22 pounds. If you think about how light one full prescription bottle is, 22 pounds seems pretty impressive,” stated McDonald.

The program was first introduced earlier in the year by Rio Grande Public Health Director Emily Brown who gave a small presentation to the Rio Grande County Commissioners. Brown explained that she had been working for several months to get organizations like the South Fork Police Department involved in the program, but that McDonald was the only one to respond with a willingness to take a drop box. According to McDonald, his department is the only drop-off location in the county, with hopes that more will follow his example.

“We have reached out to other counties in the Valley and I think we have almost all of them on board. Hopefully, we can get drug drop-off boxes to other locations within the next year. This is beginning to spread out across the Valley and I am so thankful to be a part of that process,” said McDonald.

The drop-off box is located at the police station in town hall and can be accessed during their regular business hours or when an officer is present.

Another program that is making headway in South Fork is the newly refurbished reverse 911. McDonald spoke about the program stating that he was pleasantly surprised how well it worked and that he hopes to get as many people enlisted as possible. “As an example of the program’s efficiency, we used it to contact people after the semi wrecked on Wolf Creek Pass two weekends ago. After I posted it on Facebook and it was sent out on the reverse 911 system, we were able to reach 7,300 people that were downstream from the diesel spill. That to me is just one reason why people should sign up for this,” said McDonald.

Since the West Fork Complex Fire hit the region four years ago, several officials gathered to come up with solutions to keep the public informed of emergency situations. Several people in the area are not full-time residents or are in areas where cell and home phone service is scarce and the code red program allows emergency personnel to reach homeowners no matter where they are in the Valley or throughout the nation when an emergency occurs.

The conversation first came up during an emergency manager meeting in Mineral County in 2014, a year after the fire; that’s when Code Red really began to take on speed. Emergency managers from around the Valley gathered to discuss splitting the region up into seven sectors, each of which would have reverse 911 capabilities and weather spotters strategically located in order to have eyes on the ground to watch for rising waters and severe weather.

Ever since then, officials have been working to perfect the system and have finally come to a point where they need people to sign back up for the program. According to McDonald, several residents and visitors have already signed up and officials hope to reach the remainder of their callers. “The best part of this program is that it doesn’t matter where you are. You will receive a text, email and recorded call from the 911 center telling you about an incident or emergency. It is such a great program, and I encourage everyone, whether they are year-round residents or summer residents, to sign up immediately,” said McDonald.

Reverse 911 contacts people in the event of an emergency in specific areas and can increase response time by almost half. 911 dispatchers can use the system to hone in on areas being affected and can contact people no matter where they are to inform them of a possible or impending emergency. To sign up for the Code Red service, please contact 719-589-5807.