LOLO NATIONAL FOREST — While the end of summer in Montana may seem like the end of wildfire season, officials say wildfires, but you take steps now to protect yourself in the future.
“Preparing for wildfire season is a year-round endeavor,” said Julia Berkey of the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation.
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Wildfire season in Montana is unpredictable, but taking a few steps early in the season can help in the future.
“Whenever you're thinking about preparing for wildfire, we want folks have their home prepared,” Berkey said.
A leading cause of wildfires in Montana is debris burning, which is why following burn restrictions is important — but so is clearing the debris surrounding your home.
“Continually removing things like debris away from the home raking away dead leaves, raking away dead grass,” Berkey added.
This also means anything within 5 feet of your home that can catch an ember during a wildfire.
“That is the number one way we lose homes is from ember ignition,” Berkey says.
Camping is popular in the summer, and officials want fire prevention to be as well, with campfires being the second leading cause of wildfires in Western Montana.
“When you have a campfire going you have a way to put it out,” Berkey said, “say a spark felt flew out, you'd have a water bucket there to put that out and then also that water bucket can then be used to drown your campfire and then you're stirring that up to make sure that the water is evenly dispersed.”
