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Yellowstone County Disaster
and Emergency Services |
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Related Links
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Rural Fire Protection
Fire protection in Yellowstone County (outside the incorporated cities of Billings, Laurel and Broadview) is essentially divided into two parts - structural protection and wildland protection. The structural protection for homes, farmsteads, commercial buildings and all other improvements on the property is provided by a legally created fire district or fire service area per Montana Law (see separate sections). Once a fire district or fire service area is created, the trustees of the district or area provide for the fire protection themselves or by contracting with an existing volunteer fire department within the district or area. The other part of fire protection in Yellowstone County is the rural wildland fire protection. By Montana Law (7-33-2201 through 7-33-2211, MCA), the county is responsible for suppressing fires to protect range, farm and forest lands. Yellowstone County provides this protection by having a rural fire levy from the county general fund and using the funds to contract with the volunteer fire departments throughout Yellowstone County. The county is divided up into geographic areas showing the fire districts, fire service areas and the wildland fire protection areas. In many instances the wildland fire protection area boundaries are the same as the fire district or fire service area boundaries. The minimum level of protection is wildland fire protection, and all of Yellowstone County is protected by a rural volunteer department.
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