Gallatin County Emergency Management addresses fire risk, management on the heels of Los Angeles disaster
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
Officials addressed Gallatin County’s wildfire risk and mitigation on Monday, Feb. 3, in response to recent devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. Gallatin County Emergency Management, a county entity that coordinates with public safety agencies for emergency management and response, discussed how homeowners and communities can plan for wildfires in the future.
In the presentation, Patrick Lonergan, the chief of emergency management at GCEM described why wildfires like the ones in Los Angeles can cause so much damage.
“ It’s not just the homes in the trees that are at risk from wildfires,” Lonergan said. “When the weather and the fuel conditions align, like you recently saw in Los Angeles, it can be really hard to stop a fire from occurring.”
Embers that travel and land on structures or vegetation were the cause of the majority of burned homes in Los Angeles, according to Lonergan. “ Rarely is it the actual fire burning into a community,” Lonergan said. While GCEM also looks at how to reduce fire risk in the environment itself, Lonergan said that assessing a home’s risks and vulnerabilities is essential.
To do so, GCEM looks at the “home ignition zone,” in their in-person assessment, looking for combustible vegetation and structure materials that could contribute to a structure fire. In the presentation, Jay Pape, preparedness and mitigation manager, said the focus on home ignition zones is not only key for homeowners, but for their neighbors too.
Pape encouraged individuals, homeowners associations or groups of neighbors to reach out.
“ If you think that you might want to have some project work done in your community in 2025, now’s the time to start working with us to try and get that lined up,” Pape said.
Each risk assessment is free and takes about an hour-and-a-half to complete. Afterward, homeowners will learn what risks and strengths their homes have, and will learn simple solutions to reduce risk, much of which is seasonal maintenance—cleaning out gutters, cultivating fire-resistant vegetation, and clearing fuel around and under structures like decks.
Taking care of wildfire prevention and mitigation is urgent across the county, Lonergan said, and wildfire spread depends on where fires start. But some regions do show higher concern.
“ Big Sky is by far the highest relative risk here in the county,” Lonergan said. Big Sky faces more fire risk than 96% of the U.S., according to data by wildfirerisk.org.
The county provides financial support to homeowners for mitigation projects, which according to Pape, usually costs between $3,000 and $5,000 per acre, but can go as high as $8,000 per acre depending on the landscape. Although funding can vary depending on grants, GCEM can reimburse up to $2,000 per acre of work.
Last year, GCEM employed one crew that completed 16 projects in a single subdivision. This year, GCEM will have two crews working on projects throughout the county.
As the area continues to grow, Lonergan said that wildfire risk will not go away.
“ We talked about the amount of acres that we treated last year and, you know, it’s a small little dent in it,” Lonergan said. “So it’s about being smart on how our community grows in the future and putting time for stuff that already exists to change.”
Conducting home assessments and planning for wildfires in neighborhoods and communities does not happen overnight, Lonergan reminded the community.
“This takes time,” he said. Homeowners can request home assessments on GCEM’s website.
