Safety sparks FireSafe conference

POLSON — Homeowners, stakeholders and experts converged on the KwaTaqnuk Resort and Casino for the Polson Communities and Wildfire conference on Monday and Tuesday, April 9-10.

“The event is about bringing these diverse interests and stakeholders together to talk about wildfire research and engage the community,” Jennifer Mayberry, executive director of FireSafe Montana, said. “This is our first effort to bring these experts together.”

With an emphasis placed on community involvement and awareness, the conference tackled anything and everything fire-related: history, studies, strategies and preparedness to drive home the idea of staying safe with the peak of fire season right around the corner.

While the traditional fire season means hotter, drier conditions, Mayberry pointed out that fires don’t rely on a calendar.

“It’s getting to be more and more all the time,” Mayberry said. “We had fires in Browning in January.”

On Monday, firefighter Rick Trembath discussed case studies in Montana involving the successes and failures of fires near homes. Tuesday morning, Bob Mutch, a 38-year veteran of forest fire research and fire management with the U.S. Forest Service, presented a slideshow to the crowd. In it, Mutch highlighted 19 reasons, or what he deemed excuses, out of 100, as to why people don’t prepare themselves for a possible wildfire, ranging from a physical inability to maintain a safe property to an unwillingness to do it for aesthetic purposes. Many people don’t believe wildfires are a problem or think it’s wrong to cut down trees, but for all the reasons behind not taking action, Mutch had a slide or remark ready to refute the claim.

Trembath and Mutch were among a handful of experts and a pair of panels who covered all aspects of how anybody can take matters into their own hands to mitigate disaster.

Mayberry said that it is vital for homeowners to be proactive in order to avoid potentially devastating damage to not just their property, but to themselves as well.

“It’s really important that everyone take their own responsibility, especially in rural Montana, because there may not be an engine to save your house,” Mayberry said. “Take the time to figure out what your resources are and that’s kind of (FireSafe’s) goal, to be the one place where they can say, ‘who is my contact in this area?’”

By taking it upon oneself to take nothing for granted and look at the benefits to being fire safe, people can save themselves a lot of headache and a lot of heartache.