ANEN is a community-based effort to provide organized assistance to area residents in preparing for emergency events that may arise to threaten “life as usual” in the mountain community served by the Allenspark Fire Protection District (AFPD). ANEN was created in 2011 by area residents concerned that large-scale emergencies such as wildfires and floods can, especially in their earliest stages, overwhelm locally-available resources such as AFPD and county law enforcement. Transportation disruptions can limit assistance by outside agencies for significant periods and require greater self-reliance for mountain communities. Recent emergency events have shown that public safety can benefit greatly from coordinated active assistance by residents trained to provide such assistance under the guidance of existing emergency service providers.