At 9:28 a.m., Amy Clewell and her two pretend siblings gathered in her driveway in Elk Meadows, debating whether it was time to call for help.

They watched a stream of law enforcement vehicles and fire engines speed past them, kicking up dust.

Clewell’s dog, Ruby, lingered close to the house instead of near the cluster of people, sensing something out of the ordinary.

They figured those cars had started responding to the mock wildfire, but hadn’t received the notification yet.

Ouray County Emergency Manager Glenn Boyd uses his radio to announce the beginning of the Elk Meadows simulated wildfire exercise on Friday morning, as emergency responders wait to begin the scenario. Local fire, search and rescue, and law enforcement participated in the exercise, as well as state agencies and volunteers who live in Elk Meadows and others who traveled there to assist with the drill. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

When Clewell still hadn’t gotten an alert message ordering a mandatory evacuation they expected around 9 a.m., they decided to proceed with the next direction and call 911 for assistance.

According to their script, one volunteer role player had broken his wrist trying to help another volunteer — a woman who uses a wheelchair in real life and volunteered to represent people with disabilities — while trying to evacuate the home.

Clewell described their situation to the dispatcher who took notes and let them know help was on the way.

“Do you know how long it will be?” Clewell asked. Before she could finish, the call disconnected. Clewell, Jennifer Shook and Jordan Wyatt were three of the more than 40 volunteers who helped perform Ouray County’s first evacuation exercise May 15, which simulated evacuating the Elk Meadows neighborhood southwest of Ridgway in response to a wildfire.

Some Elk Meadows residents, like Clewell, volunteered to participate. Other volunteers had directions to wait in driveways of residences that gave permission for them to be on their property. Some were instructed to refuse to leave. Others were given roles meant to test first responders, with emergencies including breathing problems, a broken hip and other injuries reported in quick succession to 911. And some even had a mission to cause chaos — driving frantically around the neighborhood looking for others instead of evacuating, taking up responders’ time and resources, or even disrupting the command operations with an emotional tirade.

Ouray County Sheriff’s Sgt. Derrick Linnell contacts volunteer actor Shirley Tatto, who was blasting her radio and driving up and down Aspen Drive in Elk Meadows subdivision on Friday as part of her assignment to be disruptive. Tatto, who in real life works in emergency preparedness for the Delta County Public Health Department, was instructed to cause chaos and pretend to look for her missing sister as part of the scenario. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

The full-scale exercise involved more than 20 local and state entities — including law enforcement, fire departments and search and rescue personnel — and aimed to find holes in the county’s preparedness for a real situation. The county’s emergency management department spent two years planning the exercise and developed a 29-page manual laying out the scenario.

Ouray County Sheriff Justin Perry gives directions to law enforcement participants before the beginning of the mass evacuation drill on Friday, confirming assignments and teams of officers working together and reviewing a map for addresses that were participating and properties to avoid. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

Clewell, who has lived in Elk Meadows since 2018, said she wanted to understand what to do if a wildfire actually affected the neighborhood, which can only be accessed by one road, County Road 5.

Shook, a disability rights advocate, traveled from Grand Junction for the drill to represent individuals who may need more assistance during this type of evacuation event. Shook is also the program development manager and veterans’ choice program coordinator for the Center For Independence.

Wyatt, who lives in a camper with his family across from Orvis Hot Springs, said he participated to learn more about how he and his family could prepare for a real emergency. Wyatt and his family members, including his teenage children, all have go bags packed by their beds and routinely practice what they would do in the event of an emergency.

At 9:41 a.m. Clewell received an emergency alert. Wyatt also received an alert, but his was only in Spanish. He received the English alert more than an hour later.

“A mandatory evacuation order is in effect for all of the Elk Meadows neighborhood from County Road 5 to Aspen Drive,” the message read.

“Please follow instructions from emergency personnel on scene and make your way to the Ouray County Fairgrounds and Event Center via Aspen Drive and County Road 5.”

A fire truck drives up Aspen Drive, deeper into the Elk Meadows neighborhood as sheriff’s deputies go door to door for evacuations. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

While the group waited for help, Shook described how she was not only participating in the event to represent people with access and functional needs, but because of her elderly mother’s experience evacuating from the Elk and Lee fires near Meeker last summer. Her mother struggled with where to find information about evacuating, which was primarily posted on social media.

“It was pretty scary for her,” Shook said.

As they continued to sit in the dry heat, they looked over a patch of dead trees on a property neighboring Clewell’s. Shook also pointed out trees hugging either side of a shed on Clewell’s land.

Clewell said she started thinking seriously about wildfire risk only in the past few years. She said she’s had some mitigation work done, but that it was probably time for more. But she said the drill prompted her to pack go bags and think more seriously about a plan for her family.

She mulled over what she would be doing if the fire was really happening. She wondered if she’d begin watering around her property with a garden hose, and if that would even help.

When Ouray County EMS ambulance came to transport Shook and Wyatt, they found her wheelchair wouldn’t fit. They decided to have her transported in the ambulance and take her wheelchair in a different vehicle. She said being separated from her wheelchair made her anxious.

After the ambulance came, Clewell finally drove off herself. About 100 yards past Clewell’s house, a throng of emergency and fire vehicles gathered on the roadside while firefighters filled a large pop-up container with water. As Clewell kept driving, she noticed another handful of wildland firefighters watering around a propane tank in her neighbor’s yard. County Road 5 remained unusually quiet and empty, as she kept driving down the road to the 4-H Event Center, where evacuees were directed to check in.

During the debrief, volunteer evacuees shared takeaways and questions about their experience with the group.

One role player encouraged law enforcement officers to gather more information from evacuees, including names. One volunteer who was directed by the script to reunite with her pretend sister, who was also taken separately by an ambulance, said officials were unable to locate her sister because law enforcement didn’t take their names.

Volunteer Jane Errion told the group she hopes the event inspires people to account for their neighbors who may need help in these scenarios.

She also commended officials’ adaptability and on-the-fly decision making to get things done, including figuring out how to put Shook’s wheelchair in another vehicle to get it down the mountain.

Ouray County Sheriff’s Sgt. Derrick Linnell gives volunteer evacuation actors Dee and Michael Moore directions to evacuate on Friday, during a simulated exercise testing the county’s emergency response to a pretend wildfire in Elk Meadows. The Moores, who live in Ridgway, volunteered as actors pretending to be at a vacation rental. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

“We found all the holes, or many of the holes, thanks to you guys,” County Emergency Manager Glenn Boyd said.

Boyd told the Plaindealer that he is not prepared to share the specifics of those lessons yet.

He said the group faced some typical communication challenges, such as spotty cellphone service and radios that didn’t work in every area. Though the command post had assistance from a Verizon crisis team, allowing them to have strong cell service, others found they couldn’t get a signal less than half a mile away.

Volunteer actor Robert Burns talks to Ouray County Sheriff’s Sgt. Derrick Linnell during the evacuation scenario on Friday. Burns was assigned to pretend he was looking for a relative. and challenged law enforcement by driving away when they were trying to get him to leave the neighborhood. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

First responders and law enforcement officials will hold their own debrief on the event in the coming weeks, which will result in a report on what they learned and next steps.

Boyd reiterated his thanks to volunteers and the importance of continuing to stay ready if an event happens in real life. Residents may need to evacuate themselves before they’re told to do so.

“Alerts may not come,” Boyd said. “Know your neighbors, know those people that may need help getting out,” he said.

Plaindealer co-publisher Erin McIntyre contributed to this report.

Lia Salvatierra is a journalist with Report for America, a service program that helps boost underserved areas with more reporting resources.