Getting a Cabin or Second Home Ready for Fire Season

Why are cabins and second homes harder to protect?

Three reasons. Nobody is there to clear the needles that fall in July, close the window left open, or move the cushions off the deck when a fire is reported across the valley. Access is often a long, narrow forest road with a locked gate. And alerts go to the phone of the person who registered the address, who may be hundreds of miles away.

DNRC's structure assessment form lists seasonal homes as a structure type, and its explanation of how homes ignite applies with extra force to an empty cabin. It says embers are the most common way homes ignite during a wildfire, that wind can loft firebrands up to a mile ahead of a fire, and that embers collect in corners and crevices and ignite needles, wooden decks and siding or enter through gaps and vents. An empty cabin has no one to put out a small ember fire before it becomes a big one.

What should you do before you leave the cabin each time?

Treat every departure in fire season as if you will not be back before a fire. Close all windows and doors; DNRC notes that even the best windows will not protect a house if they are left open, and open windows and gaps under garage doors let embers in. Bring in or put away cushions, doormats, brooms and other light combustibles from decks and porches. Move firewood away from the walls; DNRC recommends storing it 30 feet from the structure or in an enclosed building.

Sweep needles off the deck and out of the corners where they collect, and check the gutters. Leave a garden hose connected and long enough to reach around the building; DNRC advises having hoses that reach areas 200 feet from the home and, if there is a pond, pool, creek or ditch, a pump and hose ready to use. Make sure propane tanks have vegetation cleared around them and have not been moved or altered in a way that stops them venting properly. Our guide to propane tank clearance covers the details.

What should be done to the cabin itself, once?

Some fixes are one-time projects worth doing before you rely on a closing routine. DNRC's checklist recommends 1/8-inch metal mesh over all vents, metal or fiberglass screens rather than plastic, sealing gaps larger than 1/8 inch in the roof covering, boxed-in eaves, metal gutters rather than plastic or vinyl, and a spark arrestor with 1/2-inch mesh on the chimney. It also suggests preparing plywood or thin-metal covers for vents and windows that can be put up as part of a pre-evacuation plan.

Those are carpentry and roofing jobs, not ours. Our home hardening basics guide explains what each one does so you can brief a contractor. What we do is the vegetation: the roof and gutters cleared, the overhanging limbs cut back, the 5-foot zone emptied of anything that burns, and the trees thinned and lifted beyond it.

How do you get wildfire alerts for a property you do not live in?

Register the cabin's address, not just your home address. Missoula County's Smart911 alerts are sent to the address registered on the account; landlines are loaded automatically but cell phones only receive alerts if the owner opts in. Ravalli County's Hyper-Reach system is open to part-time residents and property owners with a Ravalli County address, according to KPAX's report on the county's sign-up drive. If your cabin is in another county, find out what that county uses before the season starts.

Know the stages too. Missoula County describes an evacuation warning as current or projected hazards that may require immediate evacuation, and an evacuation order as an imminent threat; it says you do not have to wait for an order to leave and that you should not return until the order has been rescinded. For an absentee owner, a warning is usually the moment to call your local contact. Our Ready, Set, Go guide has a fuller plan.

Can firefighters get through your gate and find the cabin?

DNRC's assessment form asks whether a locked gate blocks access and whether the fire department can open it, and it recommends giving the local fire department or emergency responders gate access. It also asks whether the address is visible, reflective and noncombustible, and whether there is an adequate turnaround. Call the fire district or volunteer department that covers the cabin and ask how it handles locked gates on private roads.

Check the road as well. Limbs over the road, trees leaning into it and brush on both shoulders all make a crew less willing to drive in. Our driveway access guide gives the clearance and turnaround numbers fire districts use, and roadside clearing is work we do routinely.

Who should you have on call locally?

Somebody who can drive over. A neighbor who lives there year-round, a property manager or a friend in town can close a window, pull the deck furniture in, check that the propane and water are as you left them, and tell you what the smoke looks like from the road. Give them a key, the gate combination, a copy of your checklist and your phone numbers, and tell them plainly that they should never go up the road against an evacuation order.

Ready.gov's guidance includes keeping insurance policies and personal documents up to date with digital copies in a password-protected space, which is worth doing for the cabin as well as the main house. Take a set of photos of the cabin and its contents each spring. If you ever need to file a claim, the record will matter. Our guide on documenting wildfire mitigation explains what insurers tend to ask for.

What fuel work is worth doing before fire season?

The same work as at a primary home, done earlier and done more thoroughly, because nobody will be there to keep up with it. DNRC's west-central Montana guide calls for a 5-foot zone free of anything that burns, branches removed to at least 10 feet from the roof, branches pruned up 10 feet in the 5 to 30 foot zone, and at least 18 feet between trees or clumps in that zone. Beyond 30 feet, thinning and removing ladder fuels reduces the intensity of a fire approaching the cabin.

A cabin lot that has never been thinned, or that has dead trees standing within reach of the roof, needs that work most. Fall, after the owners leave, is the natural time for us to do it, with the property empty and the ground firm. We can walk it with you on your last weekend and agree a scope. See thinning conifers for defensible space and dead snags near homes.

Should you stay at the cabin if a fire is nearby?

Plan on leaving. A cabin often means one road out through timber and neighbors you cannot count on being there. Missoula County says you do not have to wait for an evacuation order to leave. Ready.gov advises learning your routes, knowing where you will go and evacuating immediately when authorities say to. Keep the vehicle fueled and pointed out, and keep a go bag there, not just at the main house.

Before you drive up in August, check the restrictions and fire activity for the area, and decide what would keep you from going at all. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' definitions show that Stage 1 restrictions prohibit building or attending a fire or campfire, and exemptions vary by agency, so read the order for that land before lighting the fire pit. When fires are allowed, DNRC's form says to stay with the fire, keep plenty of water nearby, avoid windy dry days, mix ashes with water in a metal container, and check the spot again the next day.

What should you check when you open the cabin in spring?

Walk around before you unload the car. Look for winter storm damage, branches down on the roof, needles packed in the gutters and roof valleys, and snow-bent trees leaning over the road or the building. Check that the hose bibs, pump and any generator work, and that the address sign survived the plows. Then plan the season's work while there is still time to book it.

Our spring wildfire prep checklist is written for that first visit. Our fire mitigation page explains how we plan fuel reduction, and the Montana Wildfire Guide collects the rest of this series. DNRC also offers a free home wildfire risk assessment, which a cabin owner can request for the seasonal property.

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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