County grant available to treat the home ignition zone

SEELEY LAKE – Missoula County Office of Emergency Management has teamed up with United Way of Missoula County and the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) to focus on reducing wildfire risk and catastrophic losses to resources and property on private land throughout Missoula County. The Missoula County Home Ignition Zone Fuels Mitigation Program provides homeowners the opportunity to reduce Home Ignition Zone vulnerabilities to wildfire through a cost-share program Oct. 13-31 and next summer.

According to the US Forest Service's Wildfire Risk to Communities website, populated areas in Missoula County have greater wildfire risk than 84% of counties in Montana due to topography, weather patterns, geography and the fuel type. Areas around Seeley Lake, on average, are at greater risk than 90% of the communities in Montana. The exposure to homes in the Seeley Lake area is 82% from direct contact with a wildfire from adjacent flammable vegetation. The remaining 18% of the risk is from indirect sources including embers and home-to-home ignition.

Modeled after home ignition zone treatment program offered by East Missoula and Frenchtown Fire Departments, Missoula County Wildfire Preparedness Coordinator Max Rebholz created the Fuels Mitigation Program to assist in areas of Missoula County where services are not available from their local fire departments. In the fall of 2019, United Way of Missoula County provided seed money from private donations during the 2017 wildfires that was designated for prevention and preparedness. They treated 30 properties, including two on Lake Inez, in two months.

The collaborative received a federal grant from Coalitions and Collaboratives out of Colorado last winter to continue the program through fall 2021.

"The intent of the program is to prevent community wildfire destruction and prevent wildland-urban fire disasters," said Rebholz. "To do that, the science, the empirical observations and data suggest what you really need to do to prevent home destruction is to mitigate the home ignition zone. This program is intended to help homeowners mitigate their home ignition zone if they can't or don't want to do it themselves. Rather than being reactive to natural disasters, we are trying to be more proactive in preparing for wildfires."

Rebholz said this program is different than the fuels mitigation grants offered through Clearwater Resource Council and Seeley-Swan Fuels Mitigation Task Force which are for larger-scale logging projects. While there is no acreage limit, the program through Missoula County is intended to specifically address the vulnerabilities within the Home Ignition Zone. MCC can remove pine needles, sweep the deck, remove flammable vegetation against the homes and thin and remove small diameter trees within 100 feet of the structure.

"What the science shows us is how home destruction occurs from wildfire is really something caused by embers that land on or immediately next to home on something flammable," said Rebholz. "That flammable item or vegetation catches fire and passes the fire onto the structure.

Anyone in Missoula County can request a free wildfire site assessment by contacting Rebholz or visiting http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/forestry/fire-and-aviation/fire-prevention-and-preparedness/home-fire-risk. A local wildfire professional will perform a site visit. The homeowner will receive a report with recommended mitigation techniques they can take to reduce their wildfire risk.

Then homeowners can choose to hire the MCC fuels mitigation crew to mitigate around their home by creating non-combustible zones that reduces flammable vegetation around the home. The professional will work with the homeowner to create a plan to mitigate those vulnerabilities.

The homeowner is responsible for paying the entire upfront cost of $650 per day for the MCC four-person crew or $6,500 per week for a crew of eight. After the work is complete the property will be reassessed. United Way will reimburse the homeowner 50% of the cost. It is then up to the homeowner to maintain the work.

"The goal is to make it easy and quick to get the work done," said Rebholz. "For program sustainability we need to ensure we receive the full upfront cost."

The program is first come, first serve but they believe they can treat at least 60 properties in Missoula County. To sign up for a free wildfire risk assessment or get more information on how to better prepare for wildfire call Rebholz, 406-258-3633. The work will be done between Oct 13 – 30 or next year from April 5 – Sept. 1.