In Gallatin County many residences are considered to be in the Wildland Urban Interface. This means that these residences are at risk from wildfires. Through a little effort on the homeowners part, their risk to wildfires can be decreased. The information on this page will provide homeowners a variety of information on how they can help reduce the damage done to their house in a wildfire.v>

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is commonly described as the zone where structures and other human development meet and intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. WUI areas exist throughout Gallatin County. Many projects are underway by various organizations to mitigate the risk in the WUI. Information about the activities in Gallatin County can be obtained from the Gallatin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Most activites to prepare your house are fairly simple and simply require some time to carry out. Most residences can be made less susceptible to fire through vegetation management, creating defensible space, and choice of building materials. Information on how to do this is contained below.

• Homeowner Wildfire Checklist
• Living with Fire Booklet - 2009 Version
• National Wildfire Protection Agency article on wildland fires and residences
• Step by Step instructions on Defensible Space
• FireWise Website sponsored by NFPA

• Living with Wildfire in Gallatin County Video (15 Min/ 15 Mb) -or- Alternate Low Bandwidth Version (5 Mb)
• Wildland Urban Interface Fires: An overview for Homeowners, 2005 by US Fire Administration (58 Min/ 66 Mb)