BLM - MONTANA/DAKOTAS FIRE AND AVIATION  INFORMATION

The Montana/Dakotas BLM Fire and Aviation Management Program has 17 wildland fire engines, two tactical water tenders, two Type 3 helicopters with helitack modules, two single engine air tanker (SEAT) bases typically with two to four SEATs available, one large air tanker base, a Type 2 Interagency Fire Cache, and one Type 2 initial attack (IA) hand crew. In addition, there are three Interagency Dispatch Centers where BLM takes the lead in central and eastern Montana. We augment our firefighting capacity with firefighting resources from other states as needed, as well as sharing resources with other states when needed.

Fire Partnerships

The Montana/Dakotas BLM recognizes the important wildfire suppression role that local fire departments provide in wildfire suppression. Quite often, local fire resources are first on the scene of wildfires occurring on private, state, or federal jurisdictions. Assisting these organizations to operate safely and effectively, and in accordance with BLM’s goals for resource management, is good business.