2024 Wildfire Protection Plan Available for Missoula Neighborhood

UPDATE: 6/27/24

Hours after publishing this story, lightning struck a Ponderosa in Grant Creek and started a wildland fire. You can read more about the fire at this link.

Original Story

The Friends of Grant Creek and the Missoula County Office of Emergency Management have completed, and made available online, a wildfire protection plan. The plan serves as a resource for home and landowners in the area and is part of the 2018 Missoula County Community Wildfire Protection Plan, according to a press release from Missoula County.

Getting to Know Missoula's Neighborhoods: Grant Creek

On a personal note, it's encouraging to see these resources in place.

In the early 90s, a wildfire threatened my home when I lived in Grant Creek. I had gone on vacation with my grandparents to Alaska and we were gone for weeks. We were driving from Montana to Alaska in a time before cell phones so we didn't make many calls home.

When we returned from our trip, my parents shared the story of a fire that threatened to crest the hill behind our house and they had been spraying the yard and the back of the house with water in hopes that it wouldn't catch on fire. Thankfully, the fire was controlled and they weren't evacuated, but it sounds like it was a close call.

Part of the wildfire protection plan includes a Homeowner's Quick Reference Guide to help with preparedness, though, the press release notes "recommendations are voluntary."

We've written before about Missoula being one of the Montana cities with homes at risk of wildfire. We've even shared other close calls about fires in Missoula. Whether you live in the Grant Creek Neighborhood or not, these fire prevention resources are valuable to our community.

Read the full Grant Creek Community Wildfire Protection Plan 2024 and learn more about the Community Wildfire Protection Plan.