Fire Protection for Rural Whitefish
Established by Flathead County in 1989, the Service Area provides fire protection for unincorporated land around the city. It is governed by an elected Board of Trustees and answers to the citizens within the Fire Area.
Flathead County · Montana
Learn How the Whitefish Fire Service Area Works
The training program explains WFSA one idea at a time, using plain language, local examples, and short questions.
You can complete the full program in about one hour. Sign in so your progress is saved between visits.
- Course length
- 13 lessons
- Estimated time
- About 1 hour
- Between visits
- Saved
Three Places to Begin
About the Service Area
Established in 1989 to protect the land around Whitefish. Learn who we are and what we do.
Learn more →
Agendas & Minutes
Every agenda and meeting record, published and indexed by date.
Read the record →
Homeowner Resources
Wildfire preparedness and defensible-space guidance for properties within the Fire Area.
Find resources →Where a Fire Station Could Go, and What It Would Cover
The Fire Service Area publishes an interactive map for testing possible fire station locations. Put a point anywhere in the Fire Area and the map draws everything within five road miles of it, then counts the properties inside that area and the calls that have come from it.
Where a station sits decides who it can reach quickly, and the 2026 plan sets aside money toward a future station. The map answers the question that follows from that using the Fire Area's own record of past calls rather than an estimate: if a station stood here, what would it actually cover?
You can place up to three locations and compare them against each other, and turn on the coverage of Station 21 and Station 22 to see what a new location would add and where it would repeat what already exists.
Coverage is measured along the road network rather than in a straight line, so the area around each point is an irregular shape rather than a circle. Distance from a station is also one of the things an insurer may weigh when rating a property, though it is not the only one, and the map does not report how any property is classified.
- Five road miles
- The drivable area around any point you place
- Properties covered
- How many properties fall inside that area
- Calls in the area
- Fire, vehicle, and other calls from 2022 to 2024
The map opens in a separate tool, not on this website. It is informational and may contain mistakes. Its distances and figures are not an official record, a fire-protection classification, or an insurance decision.
The Service Area Surrounds the City of Whitefish.
Agendas and Meeting Minutes
Recent files from the agenda and meeting-minutes archives. Open a record to view its official PDF.
Current Funding Plan
The Board’s current focus is a flat $420 annual service-area fee, up from $180, to fund six additional full-time firefighters and future facility planning. The Flathead County Commissioners must approve any change to the fee schedule.
Read the 2026 planCurrent structure
WFSA remains a fire service area and continues to contract with the City of Whitefish for fire protection.
Current focus
The Board is seeking County Commissioner approval for a flat $420 annual service-area fee, up from $180.
Former petition
The Board is not currently pursuing conversion to a fire district. The former petition remains available as a public record.
The Board of Trustees
Five elected trustees govern the Service Area. The Board meets in regular session on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:00 PM, and its decisions are entered into the public record.
Mark Carlson
Chairperson
Ed McGrew
Vice Chair
Thomas Moran
Treasurer
Jim Dyon
Trustee
Dave Kauffman
Trustee
The Unincorporated Area Around Whitefish
The Fire Area covers approximately 48,000 acres, or about 74 square miles, of unincorporated land surrounding the City of Whitefish. Its legal boundaries are established through Flathead County records. Current parcel and district information is available through the county’s geographic information system.
1989
Established
5
Elected trustees
48,000
Approximate acres
View Current Parcel and District Information
Flathead County maintains the current geographic information used to review parcels and service-area boundaries.
Open Flathead County GIS ↗Friends of the Whitefish Fire Service Area
This is a separate non-profit organization that supports the work of the Fire Service Area.
Residents who would like to support the Fire Area, or who have questions about making a gift, can contact the Board.
Contact the Board