County addresses fire threat through planning

As more developments push into the forest, Flathead County faces the difficult task of responding to and mitigating the threat of wildfire.

The county's total bill for fighting fires in 2007 will come to about $300,000, which means government officials are looking at ways to solve one of Flathead's biggest problems: Development in the wildland urban interface.

The interface is defined as a fire priority area where structures and other human developments meet and intermingle with undeveloped wild land and vegetative fuels.

"It's arguably the most critical planning issue from our standpoint," Mark Peck, director Flathead County's Office of Emergency Services, said. "If roads aren't adequate and homes aren't prepared, it ties our hands from doing anything, but the citizen expectation remains the same. It's the biggest challenge we face in the valley right now because it's not slowing down. In some areas, a 50-acre fire could take out 30 homes."

Flathead County Planning and Zoning Director Jeff Harris said his office is working with the Planning Board to address the issue through subdivision regulations.

"The legislature passed a bill requiring us to deal with the interface in the growth policy," Harris said. "We must include fire risk and implementation in the growth policy."

Language in the revised subdivision regulations, which should go to the Board of Commissioners in the next month or two, require subdivisions within the wildland urban interface to be planned, designed, constructed and maintained to minimize the risk of fire, to allow for safe escape routes and to permit effective fire suppression.

Some of the specific measures in the regulations include:

. All subdivisions shall incorporate Firewise measures into the design;

. The commissioners shall require a second or multiple accesses;

. A fire prevention control and fuels reduction plan shall accompany of any preliminary plat application in the wildland urban interface, which a local fire authority must approve.

Peck said he supports better regulations for planning issues.

"I don't see them as restrictions," he said. "I see them as common sense."

The issue of multiple roads has been the most contentious in the planning process because many areas in the county have dead end roads that aren't built to county standards, and other areas just don't allow for secondary access due to topography constraints. That could potentially limit areas from development.

"Given the wildfire season last year and what the state spend and the effort involved, it ought to give us reason to redefine how growth should occur in those areas," Harris said. "We need to protect public health and safety."

Steve Frye, the operations manager for the Northwest Land Office of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, said the Planning Board has kept an open ear for advice on dealing with growth issues in the interface.

"I've met with the Planning Board over subdivision regulations to talk about the kind of things that are important to the business of fighting fires," Frye said. "If you look at Flathead County and recognize the wide variety of fuels and topography that we have, the Planning Board is trying very hard to do the right thing, but it's incredibly difficult to come up with a set of standards that fit across the entire county. My hat's off to them."

At the top of the county's food chain sits the commissioners, and a helicopter flight over the Chippy Creek Fire this summer drove home the point that interface development is a major county concern.

"We saw the areas where people had thinned and taken care of their properties," Commissioner Dale Lauman said. "It works. If we own acreage in the forest, and we take care of it, it is going to mitigate some of the fire problems."

Lauman said that the commissioners are always looking for ways to encourage Firewise prevention when approving subdivisions in interface areas.

"The biggest lesson from 2007 is that we've got to get in front of this from a planning standpoint and attack it both ways - planning and response," Peck said.

Homeowner education efforts throughout the county will also help individuals take care of their lands and create a situation where firefighters can effectively respond when a fire incident occurs.

"We focus a lot on saving homes and infrastructure, but it's always with the understanding that none of those improvements are worth the loss of a single firefighter or member of the public," Frye said. "I'm very optimistic that as our constituents become more sophisticated in their understanding of fire behavior and what it takes to reduce fire threat that we'll make progress."

No matter what happens with planning regulations or emergency response, the threat will never go away, especially as development continues to spread through the wildland urban interface. Government officials, though, believe that through a myriad of preventative measures, property owners may face a reduced risk.

"There will always be somewhere in the western United States that fire will threaten homes and communities," Frye said. "None of us at the state, federal or local level will be able to meet our fire responsibilities alone. We need each other, and we need to work together. Success will only be because of a collaborative effort through all the parties."

For more information on Firewise preventive suggestions, visit www.firewise.org.

Reporter Michael Richeson may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com