Big Sky Fire Department

When the last Big Sky Fire Department Master Plan was completed at the end of 2015, consultants from Emergency Services Consulting, International looked at the next decade, predicting steep growth for Big Sky.

For Big Sky Fire Department firefighters, perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the current remodel of Station 1 in the West Fork is the addition of bigger dorm rooms—an expansion upon the current lodging quarters, which were designed as closets and fit little more than a twin bed and a small locker. 

As his crew sprayed, scrubbed and buffed their new Pierce custom velocity chassis pumper engine, Big Sky Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Greg Megaard stood nearby taking it all in. 

In late 2015, the Big Sky Fire Department adopted an Emergency Services Master Plan—a 141-page guide meant to help the department improve safety and the work of responders. In the plan, it was estimated that by the end of 2020, the BSFD would see upwards of 762 calls per year.

Two spots were open and two community members filed, and will win by acclamation, seats on the Big Sky Fire Department Board of Trustees. Matt Dodd and Deborah Lewis will join the board in May, 2018.

The Big Sky firefighters dispatched to California two weeks ago are still battling the 60-percent contained Thomas Fire. Big Sky Fire Department (BSFD) Chief William Farhat said he’s in constant contact with his team, and that he hopes they’ll be coming home before Christmas.