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he sign outside the Valley Fire District in Granite County, Montana, jokingly touts “Same Day Service since 1876.” Of course, the Valley Fire District, like fire protection districts across the West, knows that fire response times are no laughing matter, especially when structures or lives are at stake. And because time is often of the essence, the best protection for rural landowners, whose homes may be hours from the nearest professional firefighting resources, is the protection they and their neighbors can provide themselves. 

But how can a landowner ensure that they, their family and their employees know how to fight a fire safely and effectively? And what happens if someone gets hurt or causes injury or property damage while responding to a fire?

“There are two types of risk management. Regular risk management and legal risk management. Regular risk management is asking these questions first: ‘Do my people have proper training? Do they have proper equipment? Do they have the knowledge they need to be safe?’”

Regular risk management

“There are two types of risk management,” says Jordan Lipp, a Colorado attorney with more than 20 years working with the outdoor recreation industry. “Regular risk management and legal risk management. Regular risk management is asking these questions first. ‘Do my people have proper training? Do they have proper equipment? Do they have the knowledge they need to be safe?’” 

What level of training is appropriate will depend on a number of factors, wildland firefighter and trainer Kent Maxwell says. “The S-130/190 Basic Firefighter and S-212 Wildland Fire Chainsaws classes are certainly not perfect answers here, but I don’t know of a better option to recommend.” Maxwell’s company, Colorado Firecamp, is based in Salida and offers those courses. Basic Firefighter is a four-day experience designed to set a foundation for fire response ($650 includes tuition, lodging, meals and materials). “There is quite a bit of technical knowledge related to fire behavior, fire control, physics of tree felling and the acquisition of useful skills in tool handling,” says Maxwell, “but the greatest value is probably in attitude, how to work as a team to size up a situation and deploy resources to solve a problem.”

For landowners looking for a quicker understanding of fire behavior and firefighting strategies, Bozeman-based Wildfire Defense Systems (WDS) offers a one-day basics course. According to WDS chief communications and policy officer Scott Eskwitt, the training is a great way to set a strong baseline for a community or team that might face a wildfire together, like a ranch staff. WDS and other firms offer custom training packages for organizations or communities. They also sell firefighting equipment—from helmets, fire-retardant field clothing and hand tools to custom-fabricated wildland firefighting vehicles.

Legal risk management

After ensuring your staff or family is prepared with the knowledge and skills to be effective in case of emergency, then concern yourself with your legal liability. Lipp says there are several things to consider: the details of your insurance policies, your state’s specific “Good Samaritan” laws and worker’s compensation laws. Outdoor businesses often ask Lipp for help with a release of liability form they can require clients to sign. He tells them, “We have to talk about insurance before we ever talk about the release.” That’s because, by the time we’re invoking the release, you’ve already been sued and are incurring legal fees in defense. 

“I think of the Good Samaritan statute like a release. It is a protection in a lawsuit, but you’re still out all the attorney’s fees, so insurance is the frontline defense. Good Samaritan laws are designed to reduce or eliminate the risk of legal liability if a person causes injury or property damage in the course of providing volunteer emergency services, such as firefighting. The laws, essentially, seek to avoid discouraging citizens from helping each other. Meanwhile, worker’s compensation laws protect employers from lawsuits, and provide alternative remedies for employees, if an employee is injured fighting a wildfire as part of their job. These laws do vary by state, and of course, Lipp advises that you consult counsel about your specific situation..”

Doing the Right Thing

All of this risk calculus, Lipp says, shouldn’t stand in the way of asking ‘What’s the right thing to do?’ “If there is a fire that you might be able to put out, even if there is the liability risk, it still may be the right thing to do,” he says. “[Good Samaritan law] is designed to help people follow common sense and not get too paranoid about lawsuits.” 

And the good news is, Lipp says, there are very few lawsuits that challenge Good Samaritan laws. “I’ve been defending ski areas and outfitters and all sorts of other outdoor businesses for 20 years now. I have made one Good Samaritan argument in that time.”