From Red to Resilience: The Community-Driven Battle Against Missoula County Wildfires

On the wall behind Eric Legvold's desk is a map of Missoula County. But it isn’t an ordinary map. It’s brightly colored—green, yellow, orange, and red—but mostly red, showing areas prone to wildfire. Only the shopping mall and the airport remain outside the high-risk zones. It is a stark, ever-present reminder of the wildfire risks that threaten Missoula communities, risks that Eric, the Director of Impact at United Way of Missoula County, and his colleagues cannot ignore.

By most accounts, Missoula County is a disaster-prone place. Avalanches, flooding, and forest fires are all too common. But the county is gradually building its environmental resilience through strategic collaboration between United Way and its partners. In 2017, Missoula experienced wildfires ranked first and second in the nation. UWMC responded by raising $200,000 from private donors in 45 states, allowing donors to directly support the communities they wished to help. That funding bolstered HVAC capacities in local schools, provided HEPA filters to senior living communities, and reimbursed those forced to evacuate for gas, lodging, and other necessities.

Following the crisis, it became clear that Missoula’s best path forward was to move from response and recovery to mitigation and preparedness. Recovery efforts supported homeowners who lost property, helped landowners affected by voluntary government burns, and included ecological guidance from a forester retained by UWMC to craft region-specific recovery strategies.

Wildfires are not unique to Missoula. Communities worldwide, and the United Ways supporting them, grapple with wildfire threats annually. On August 8, 2023, a devastating fire in Maui claimed more than 100 lives and destroyed Lahaina. In Canada, record heat and drought fueled wildfires across the Northwest Territories and British Columbia, forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate and prompting emergency declarations.

In Missoula, United Way’s approach is rooted in deep community knowledge and trust. On "chipper day," teams help residents clear downed or dead material that fuels wildfires. Yet, their primary role is to guide and support; Missoula residents take pride in doing the work themselves. This connection to the land is mirrored in United Way of Missoula County’s Neighborhood Ambassadors, trained to understand wildfire risk and serve as local educators. Free Wildfire Risk Assessments offered throughout the year formalize this community-driven approach.

Wildfire Ready Missoula County has emerged as a holistic disaster resilience initiative, from mitigation to recovery. The program is now solidified through a formal partnership with Missoula County, functioning as the voluntary arm of Missoula’s Wildfire Mitigation and Regulatory Plan. Together, UWMC, Missoula County, and their various partners have strengthened the program’s reach and credibility, ensuring that community efforts align with countywide priorities.

The initiative has also been instrumental in supporting successful grant applications, including the Community Wildfire Defense Grant. These grants have funded mitigation projects, implementation strategies, and community outreach programs throughout Missoula County, enabling a proactive and sustained approach to wildfire preparedness.

A cornerstone of this effort is the development of the Missoula County Wildfire Preparedness Guide, considered a gold standard in community wildfire readiness. This comprehensive resource provides residents with actionable steps to reduce wildfire risk, including understanding the Home Ignition Zone, creating defensible spaces, and evacuating.  

Missoula County’s United Way also encourages other United Ways and their residents to understand their own vulnerability by mapping local fire hazard levels, property-specific vulnerabilities, and historical fire data. Tools such as the Wildfire Risk platform empower homeowners and neighborhoods to take targeted, informed actions.  

United Way’s approach reflects a comprehensive, community-centered strategy. Wildfire Ready Missoula County has transformed the red on Eric’s map into the symbol of a community that is better prepared, more resilient, and united in the face of disaster.