This video is of a public meeting held at the Hot Springs MT Fire Hall about updating the Sanders County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).
The presenter is Mila Kennedy, an environmental and engineering consultant with DJNA, a Missoula-based firm hired by Sanders County to lead the CWPP update. She explains that the CWPP is a non-regulatory planning document required and encouraged under the federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act. Its purpose is to identify areas at highest wildfire risk, prioritize fuel reduction and mitigation projects, suggest ways to reduce how easily homes and structures ignite, and improve emergency response and communication. Having a current CWPP also makes the county more competitive for state and federal funding, including the Community Wildfire Defense Grant.
Sanders County’s previous CWPP was written in 2012 and updated in 2017, but it is now outdated due to major fires, new development, and better GIS and fire-risk modeling tools. The county has a large proportion of federal land, so defining the Wildland–Urban Interface (WUI) is especially important. WUI is where homes and other human development meet wildland fuels, including dry grass and farm ground around town. Projects in the WUI can sometimes qualify for streamlined environmental review and faster implementation.
Mila describes the “core team” guiding the plan: Sanders County government and emergency management, city and rural fire departments, Montana DNRC, federal agencies (Forest Service, BLM), the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, local utilities, private timber interests like Green Diamond, and DJNA as the technical support. They start with DNRC’s “functional WUI” map and then adjust it to include key access corridors and infrastructure based on local knowledge.
The discussion then focuses on real-world issues in and around Hot Springs. Fire chiefs and town officials talk about evacuation routes, volunteer shortages, and the need for better coordination between departments. Lake County is cited as a good example, with regular cross-department training and planning, while Sanders County is still building that level of cooperation. Participants stress the need to upgrade the county’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and paging systems so firefighters can use modern apps that show incident locations and resources in real time.
Notification of residents is another concern. Many people in Hot Springs are elderly or lack reliable cell phones or internet. The old town siren system has failed, and while reverse-911 landline calling exists, cell phones must be manually registered. Attendees recall earlier attempts to make City Hall and the Senior Center into emergency hubs with generator backup, but those plans stalled. They see renewed value in sirens, neighborhood check systems, and clear public information procedures for fast-moving fires.
Water supply for firefighting is a major challenge. Aside from town hydrants and a single 10,000-gallon cistern north of town, there are few dependable sources. Irrigation reservoirs are seasonally drawn down, and local rivers are clogged with weeds and moss that foul pumps. Firefighters often must shuttle water long distances. More strategically placed cisterns, especially near schools and key road junctions, are suggested as a high priority, along with better subdivision standards that don’t just collect small fees but actually provide usable fire infrastructure.
The group also addresses public behavior and home mitigation. Some landowners responsibly thin trees, limb branches, and clear brush, but many do little and become angry when their properties are flagged as high risk. Access and turnarounds for fire engines are often inadequate, especially on steep, narrow driveways. On the health side, participants note that dense wildfire smoke frequently settles in the valley; simple “box fan with furnace filter” units have worked well, and a program to purchase and distribute them, plus designating clean-air refuge spaces at the Senior Center, Tribal Senior Center, and Grange Hall, is recommended.
Mila closes by inviting continued public input. A CWPP “story map” website shows fire history, preparedness resources, maps of risk and WUI, and will host the draft plan. Through that site and QR codes, residents can review the draft, suggest changes, and propose concrete local projects. The goal is to turn local experience and concerns into a practical, fundable roadmap that improves wildfire preparedness, response, and recovery for Hot Springs and all of Sanders County.
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