Community Services

Fuel Mitigation

“Hazardous fuels mitigation reduces wildfire risk to firefighters, homeowners and the general public. By removing vegetation, fuels mitigation seeks to decrease the amount of fuel available to burn during a wildfire. This helps reduce wildfire intensity so that they can be more safely easily managed, and pose less risk to homes.

When Fuel accumulates, fires burn hotter, faster and with great intensity. By decreasing the amount of vegetation on your property, fuels mitigation can help reduce the risk to you, your home, your neighbors, and to firefighters responding to a wildfire.

To help us make our rural neighborhoods safer, government agencies award grants to local jurisdictions. These grants pay most of the cost to send a crew to work on your land. This allows the Department to hire workers to remove hazardous fuels from your property before fire is on the ground, at a reduced cost to you, the homeowner.

Our mitigation supervisor walks your property with you. Together, we plan to make your home more resilient in the face of wildfire. Prior to beginning the work, we will agree on a contract which specifies your share of the cost to complete the work. Once we finish the job, we’ll send an invoice. The crews cut brush, thin small to medium sized trees, and chips or hand pile debris. They also prune low limbs from the trees that remain. Unfortunately, we cannot perform prescribed fire activities. Our crews follow industry -established best management practices for creating defensible space around your home.

Please call (406) 626-5791 or email [email protected] for more information or to schedule a visit to your property.”