What is the FireSafe Title III program?
This program was designed to help counties utilize federal funding that
was restricted to a pre-defined set of use guidelines. Nine Montana
counties received federal funding in a title III designation. After
being approached by several of these counties, FireSafe Montana designed
a program that would allow the counties to utilize these federal funds
and retain a majority of the funding in county. Most of the rural
counties receiving these funds do not have the resources or personnel to
design and manage a program of their own. FSM’s program will provide
training and certification for the local fire department and will
utilize the federal funds to pay the fire departments to perform
wildland home hazard assessments. The assessments are a tool to help the
fire fighters communicate with the homeowners in their area what they
can do to make their home more likely to survive in the likely event of a
wildfire.