Can the Inreach receive alerts or notifications about fires and evacuations? is there a service that sends those out to an Inreach?

By design, iR devices cannot receive unsolicited messages of any kind. This is an anti-spam measure since you pay for every message sent or received by your device. 

This would be a useful service for Garmin to provide, perhaps in a manner similar to the way weather is handled. If you'd like to make the suggestion officially, you can do so here:

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/forms/ideas/

If you do notice something like this in the field, it's probably an acceptable use of SOS to report it. GEOS is in a position to contact the appropriate local agency.

Thanks. I hadn't thought of that. I did submit the idea.

Reporting a fire is nice, but not as good as someone telling me it's bearing down on me..... But I suppose unless Garmin adopts a notification system I'd have to hit the SOS and then ask GEOS if the fire is going to get me, and how I can proceed to escape it.

Before I leave for a trip beyond cell service, I get together with a friend, relative and neighbor and send them a message from my inReach.  I tell them to save it and if they want to get back to me while I'm gone, hit the Reply button, type and send the SMS.

I am also looking for a way to get evacuation warnings on my InReach device.   I can get them on my cellphone,  if the cellular towers haven't burned up and I'm within range,  but there are many places that do not get cellular service and still are at risk for wildfires.   Ideally,  it should be able to figure out what warnings to send me based on my location,  but since I am signed up for unlimited text messages anyway,  I could deal with getting spammed with alerts for a somewhat wider area.

I am also looking for a way to get evacuation warnings on my InReach device.   I can get them on my cellphone, if the cellular towers haven't burned up and I'm within range of one.  People die every year in wildfires around here because they don't get the evacuation warnings.  Having that available on the InReach could be a lifesaver.   Ideally,  it should be able to figure out what warnings to send based on the device's location.

One solution I can think of is to get a satellite data plan and tether to the phone. Use some alert app.

It’s expensive though 

Just spotted this thread since I'm new to the Mini world. This would be an incredible value-add to the Garmin service.

As CowboySlim said, right now all you can do is count on a contact back in civilization (cell coverage). For the past few years, we have been using a service called Nixle, which relays local government agency alerts by SMS (fires, amber alerts). You subscribe to an area by texting them a zip code. We subscribe to zips for every relative. A hiker could ask the contact to add the zip for the hike location. Similarly, you could send them the twitter feed for the closest fire station and promise dinner if they monitor and alert you...

Have not used nixle for this purpose. But it does work well for standard things like severe weather alerts (at least in my home area).

Ii don't think Garmin is likely to add this kind of thing without some kind of additional charge (maybe part of the subscription, or maybe like the extended weather reports on per-message basis). As noted above, Garmin (rightly) goes out of its way to avoid "spamming" iR devices with unsolicited messages. This kind of notification kind of falls under that umbrella right now.