Barns, Hay and Livestock: Wildfire Prep for Small Farms in Western Montana

Why does a small farm need its own wildfire plan?

Because the fuel and the stakes are different. Oklahoma State University Extension's wildfire preparation checklist for ranches and farms has separate sections for the home, the property, and livestock and feed, and most of its items are about things a house lot does not have: hay storage, equipment, mineral feeders and fence lines. It also reminds owners to check insurance coverage for hay, buildings and their contents.

The planning is also longer. Moving horses or cattle takes trailers, people, time and animals that load. The best plan on paper does not help if it starts when the smoke is already over the ridge.

How should hay be stored in fire country?

Spread it out and keep it away from everything else. The Oklahoma State checklist says not to store all hay in one area, to store it on gravel, bare ground or ground mowed or grazed short, and to keep it away from homes, barns, other buildings and equipment. A single stack beside the barn puts the year's feed and the building in one fire.

The ground around and under stacks matters as much as the distance. Cured grass or cheatgrass growing up to the bales gives a grass fire a direct path into the hay. Keep the area around stacks mowed or grazed short early in the season, before the grass cures; our guide to cheatgrass and dry grass explains why early matters.

Can hay start a barn fire on its own?

Yes. Wet hay heats, and hot enough hay ignites without any outside spark. Ohio State's agricultural safety program says hay baled at moisture over 20 percent is at risk, that most hay fires occur within the first six weeks after baling, and that at-risk hay should be checked twice a day for six weeks or until temperatures settle. Internal temperatures up to 110 degrees F in the first five days are common and usually not a concern.

Its thresholds: at 125 degrees F no action is needed. At 150 degrees F the hay has entered the danger zone; check twice daily and unstack bales so air can circulate. At 160 degrees F, check every couple of hours and unstack with the fire department present. At 175 degrees F hot pockets are likely; alert the fire service and close the barn tightly to limit oxygen. At 190 degrees F and above, remove the hot hay only with the fire service, because bales may burst into flames. Ohio State suggests a probe made of 3/4-inch pipe with a pointed end and small holes near the tip, with the thermometer left in the stack for 15 minutes, and warns anyone walking on a stack to use planks and have someone nearby.

What should be cleared around barns and outbuildings?

Start at the walls. Oklahoma State's checklist calls for removing flammable materials within 5 feet of barns, shops and outbuildings, keeping their windows and doors closed, cleaning flammable material and fluids off equipment, storing equipment on gravel or ground mowed or grazed short, and frequently clearing wind-blown debris from around buildings and equipment. DNRC's structure assessment form adds that fences collect debris and can act like a wick to carry fire to a building, and suggests a noncombustible gate or section where a wood fence meets a structure.

Then work outward the way you would around a house. Lift the lower limbs of trees near the barn, thin crowded conifers, and remove dead trees that could fall across the barn, the lane or the fence. Our guides on sheds and outbuildings, wood fences attached to buildings and firewood storage apply directly to farm buildings.

How can pastures be set up as safe areas for animals?

Oklahoma State's checklist has practical suggestions: place mineral feeders in pasture corners to create trampled areas where livestock gather, feed along fence lines or corners to create refuge areas, and when safety and time allow, move herds to green fields or short-grazed areas so they can move away from fire. It also recommends having a plan for animals kept in small areas and, if it comes to it, for cutting fences, including talking with the owners of neighboring pastures beforehand.

Irrigated pasture that stays green into August is the best refuge most valley farms have. Keeping the ditches and sprinklers running through the season, and the grazing even, makes it work. Our irrigation systems page covers the sprinkler side.

What about equipment, fuel and haying in fire season?

Machinery starts fires and machinery burns. Clean chaff, grass and oil off swathers, balers and tractors, park them on gravel or bare ground, and keep fuel tanks and cans away from the hay and the barn. Oklahoma State's checklist puts equipment storage on gravel, bare ground or ground mowed or grazed short for exactly this reason. Carry an extinguisher and a shovel on the tractor during haying and watch the windrows behind you for smoke.

Fire restrictions can reach farm work. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' definitions of Stage 2 restrictions prohibit operating internal combustion engines, welding and using an open-flame torch from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., followed by a one-hour foot patrol of the work area, with exemptions that vary by the agency issuing the order and written permits for otherwise prohibited acts. Whether a given order applies to your private land depends on who issued it, so check the current order for your county before planning afternoon work in August. Our guide to Montana fire restrictions explains the stages.

Should horses be turned loose or left in the barn?

Neither is a plan; getting them out early is. Dr. John Madigan of the UC Davis Veterinary Emergency Response Team lists the three most effective ways to prevent injury to horses in a wildland fire as evacuate early, evacuate early and evacuate early. He describes the common reasons evacuation fails: horses that cannot be caught or have not been trained to load, too little trailer space, missing halters and ropes, and too few people with the skills to move the number of horses at risk in time.

If a facility is about to be overrun and horses cannot be moved, he says opening gates and stall doors can let horses escape, but warns that horses may try to return to a familiar barn even when it is on fire, so steps are needed to keep them out. Loose horses should be reported to 911. His prevention list: know your county's equine evacuation plan, train horses to load, practice before fire season, build a phone tree of horse owners with trailers, and identify horses before evacuation with tags, paint or a phone number on the hoof, plus a photo.

Where can Missoula and Ravalli County owners get help planning?

Missoula County's emergency management office describes an evacuation warning as the time for final preparation, including precautionary movement of people with special needs, pets and livestock, and it says you do not have to wait for an evacuation order to leave. It points owners to the county's Ecology and Extension department for free help making a plan to evacuate livestock such as cows and horses. In June 2025 the county and MSU Extension ran free sessions on loading horses in an emergency, barn fire extinguishers and veterinary first aid kits.

Register for alerts at the farm's address: Smart911 in Missoula County (cell phones must opt in) and Hyper-Reach in Ravalli County. Our Ready, Set, Go guide covers the household side, and the Montana Wildfire Guide has the rest of the series.

How does HJ help on farms and horse properties?

We handle the trees and the ground around the buildings: limbing and thinning around barns, removing dead and hazard trees near barns, lanes and fences, clearing brush and slash, and chipping or hauling what comes out. We also build and repair fencing, including the gates you will want wide enough for a trailer, and our barn bird control work keeps nesting material out of barn eaves, where DNRC notes it gives embers fine fuel to ignite.

Our fire mitigation page explains how we plan fuel reduction from the buildings outward. We do not do grazing, hay testing or animal handling, and for those the county extension office and your veterinarian are the right calls.

Call HJ Property Care & Tree Service at (406) 215-7319 or request a free estimate and we will walk the property with you.

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