Saturday, February 08, 2025
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We need all tools to stay safe from fire

As the tragic Los Angeles wildfires have unfolded, it’s been devastating to watch entire communities reduced to ash. While Montanans extended our thoughts and prayers to everyone affected, the L.A. fires have also been a stark reminder of the extreme danger that hot, dry fuels and strong winds pose to our families, communities and property.

In Montana, we have our own experiences with wind-fueled fires. In December 2021, 70 mile-per-hour winds turned a grass fire into an unstoppable blaze that caused tremendous damage in the north-central town of Denton, burning over 10,000 acres and 25 homes.

We tend to think of wildfire as only a problem in timbered areas. But in fact, many of the most destructive fires in Montana have occurred in the eastern part of the state where invasive grasses, dry conditions and high winds are a recipe for disaster. As the catastrophic fires in Los Angeles (and Eastern Montana) have shown us, non-timbered areas are highly susceptible to destructive fires. And often, fire conditions are so severe that they can overwhelm even the most capable suppression response.

It is unquestionable that forest health and effective response are a key part of combating the wildfire crisis in the West and keeping communities safe. But we need to use all the tools available to reduce risk, and that includes embracing smart planning and preparation to keep our families, homes, and neighbors safer if and when fire does occur.

That starts with building and updating homes to be safer from fire. A growing body of research demonstrates that building homes to well-established wildfire safety standards by using ignition-resistant building materials can reduce risk by 40%. This risk is even further reduced if surrounding homes are also built to wildfire safety standards. This data underscores the need for policies that can help support retrofits for existing homes and fire-safe new construction — at a community scale — to adequately reduce risk, rather than just building a couple of fire-safe homes here and there within a neighborhood.

Building fire-safe homes and neighborhoods is not cost-prohibitive. Research shows that building to wildfire safety standards does not cost significantly more than traditional building methods. Focusing only on up-front building costs also ignores the significant savings that result from avoiding harm caused by wildfires. Specifically, recent data from FEMA indicates that building to wildfire safety standards saves four dollars for every one dollar spent. What’s more, building to wildfire safety standards has the potential to reduce insurance premiums and make housing more affordable. Finally, these economic benefits don’t account for subjective benefits like avoiding the emotional hardships that come from losing loved ones, homes or livelihoods in a destructive fire.

As fire risk grows, development in the wildland urban interface is booming. Montana added nearly 31,600 new structures statewide between 2019-2023, concentrated in areas that are at moderate and high wildfire hazard. Montana ranks second in the nation for states with the highest numbers of homes facing wildfire risk.

Building to wildfire safety standards reduces the likelihood of community destruction, helps make fire suppression resources go further and keeps firefighters safer. Currently, federal managers estimate that up to 95% of fire-suppression costs are directly related to protecting homes. If homes are built in a way that makes them less prone to igniting, it makes it easier for responders to allocate resources where they are most needed.

As multi-year droughts and high temperatures make fires more common and more severe, we need to be using every tool available to reduce risk and keep people and communities safe. In Montana, we have some tools available to support wildfire-safe land use planning, but more needs to be done. We need both state and federal leadership to ensure communities in Montana and across the West are mitigating risk at the pace and scale necessary to get ahead of the next disaster. We can’t wait for fire before we act.

Emily Cleveland is a senior program director at Wild Montana; Rocky Infanger is the fire chief of the Wolf Creek/Craig Fire Service Area and president of FireSafe Montana; Patrick McKelvey is the vice president of Montana Forest Owners Association and board member of Fire Safe Montana.