Click here to view all Gallatin County fire districts/service areas. Fort Ellis Fire Service Area is the green shaded area southeast of Bozeman labeled ‘Fort Ellis’ when you click on it. Use the two buttons in the upper lefthand corner of the screen to zoom in and out of the map and also view different types of maps (topo, navigation, etc.). Fort Ellis Fire Service Area encompasses approximately 59 square miles of suburban, rural, farmland, wildland-urban interface, forested areas, and the interstate highway east of Bozeman, Montana.

Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue requests that everyone in the Fort Ellis Fire Service Area, both residential and commercial, provide blue reflective signs to clearly mark driveways, homes, and businesses. For additional details about blue reflective signs and purchasing, please visit Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue Blue Reflective Address Signs.

There are several ways you can support Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue, whether it’s through a donation, the Friends of Fort Ellis community group, or joining as a volunteer firefighter.

For information on burn permits and open burn regulations, please visit our Burn Permits & Fire Restrictions page.

Residents in the Fort Ellis Fire Service Area are permitted to have small recreational fires. However, there are some basic rules that need to be followed:

• Recreational fires, commonly referred to as camp fires, must be in controlled/contained areas and must be less than 4 feet in diameter. If your fire doesn’t fit in this category, you need to purchase and activate a burn permit. If you’re unsure, please visit Burns Permits & Fire Restrictions.

• A reasonably prudent and suitable source of extinguishing the fire should always be available. A garden hose or a fire extinguisher would be good options.

• Fires should be wood only, or camp-fire style. That means no painted/treated lumber, trash, vegetation, or other materials that are illegal to burn.

• Your recreational fire must be attended to at all times until it is 100% out and cold to the touch.

• These types of fires are not allowed during county-wide burn bans imposed by Gallatin County Commissioners.

• What may be enjoyable for you may not be enjoyable for your neighbors. Be a good neighbor, and don't have a recreational fire on breezy days, which will spread smoke through the neighborhood. In addition, we recommend you don’t have a recreational fire on red flag days.

Yes! Anyone can register for the Gallatin County Community Notification System. The Community Notification System is a mass notification product that officials in Gallatin County use to provide urgent information to our community.  In addition to its primary goal of providing emergency information, registered residents who wish to receive non-emergent information can request to receive that too.

By law, you are required to pull (safely!) to the right and stop. This allows fire/ambulance apparatus to continue response safely and quickly.

In addition, Montana’s "Move Over" law requires drivers to move into the lane that is furthest from police, fire, ambulance, or towing/maintenance vehicles on the side of the road and slow down to an appropriate speed.

It is important to visually check your fire extinguisher’s gauges monthly and have a licensed professional perform an annual check-up on all of your fire extinguishers.

There are many reputable companies in the Bozeman area that specialize in fire extinguishers. You can look up ‘Fire Extinguishers’ in the Bozeman Yellow Pages or Google ‘Fire Extinguisher Services Bozeman’ to help fulfill your specific needs.

Immediately get everyone, including pets, outside to get fresh air. Call 911, and Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue will be dispatched to come check for CO in your house/business.

Immediately leave the area.

Do not attempt to locate the leak.

Do not use phones, matches, light switches, or anything else that could trigger the ignition of the gas.

When at a safe distance, call 911, and Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue will be dispatched to come and assess the situation with special gas detectors.

Warn others to stay out of the area.

Wait in a safe area for emergency personnel to arrive on scene.

Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue participates in the Knox Box Rapid Access System. The Knox Box is a high-security key lock box that provides Fort Ellis responders rapid access into your home, business, or property. Removing barriers to entry reduces injuries to responders, minimizes property damage, and could help save a life. For additional info, please visit Knox Box Emergency Key Program.

Test your smoke alarms at least once a month. Press the test button to ensure the alarm is working.

Batteries should be replaced once or twice per year (or sooner if the alarm starts chirping to alert you that the batteries are low). A good way to remember to do this is to change your batteries when you change your clocks for daylight savings time.

Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “Chimneys, fireplaces, and vents should be inspected at least once a year for soundness, freedom from deposits, and correct clearances. Cleaning, maintenance, and repairs shall be done if necessary.”

This is the national safety standard and is the correct way to approach the problem. It takes into account the fact that even if you don’t use your chimney much, animals may build nests in the flue, or there may be other types of deterioration that could make the chimney unsafe to use. With heavy usage of certain fuels cleaning more often than once a year may be necessary.

Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue does not perform chimney inspections/cleaning. There are many reputable companies in the Bozeman area that specialize in chimney inspections and cleaning.

The Gallatin County Subdivision Regulations specify the requirements for fire protection systems for new construction within the County. The Regulations grant the Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue Chief as the Authority Having Jurisdiction, standing in subdivision covenants for the purpose of enforcing all fire protection requirements in our Fire Service Area. Please visit the Sprinkler Systems page on our website for full details.

There is a plethora of resources and information available for those who live in the wildland-urban interface.

We have put together just a few of these resources, which you can find at the Living in the Wildland-urban Interface page here on our website.

Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue firefighters respond to 200-300 calls per year. The number of calls depends on a variety of factors, including the weather and the number of residents and visitors in the Fort Ellis Fire Service Area.

Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue responds to all types of calls including medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents and fires, structure fires, wildland fires, and hazardous materials incidents.

Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue also provides mutual aid to surrounding fire districts, including the city of Bozeman, for structure and wildland fires.

Fort Ellis Fire/Rescue currently has an unmanned fire station, meaning all volunteer firefighters respond from their homes, work, or wherever they may be when the call comes in. On average, it takes firefighters 10-12 minutes to respond to the station, get dressed, and load up into the trucks.

To calculate the average time it would take to get to your home: Add 11 minutes to the number of minutes it takes to get from the fire station (at 3041 Bozeman Trail Road) to your specific address/location.

Each residence and commercial structure in the Fort Ellis Fire Service Area pays a yearly fee of $600 for services. However, commercial structure fees vary and may be assessed at a higher rate.

An ISO rating is one factor that determines your insurance premium on your home insurance. The ISO rating approximates how well your property is protected from fire. That is, the lower the number, the better the fire protection in your community.

For Fort Ellis Fire Service Area residents, if you live within five drivable road miles from Fort Ellis Fire Station (3041 Bozeman Trail Road), your ISO rating is 6. If you live more than five drivable road miles from Fort Ellis Fire Station, your ISO rating is 9.

The new Fort Ellis Fire Station has a community room available for Fort Ellis Fire Service Area residents to utilize free of charge for meetings and other functions. The Fort Ellis Chief is the approving authority for requests to use the room. Please contact us at 1-406-587-0236 and leave a detailed message or email info@fortellisfire.org.

Seating available with writing table: 32
Extra chairs: 17
Max capacity: 50
The consumption of alcohol is not allowed on the premises.

Please contact us at 1-406-587-0236 and leave a detailed message or email info@fortellisfire.org.