Private firefighting company opens location in Post Falls

Wildfire Defense Systems Inc. has an army of certified firefighters and a fleet of emergency vehicles, but they’re not typical fire responders. As a private company, the mission of its workers isn’t to fight fires, but to save homes.

And business is red hot.

“We’ve built the largest private wildfire services provider in North America,” said David Torgerson, CEO of Wildfire Defense Systems. “And because there really isn’t a private sector outside of that area, it makes us the largest wildfire services provider in the world.”

After Torgerson made the claim, he was treated with a round of applause from the few dozen in attendance at a grand opening event Tuesday evening at the company’s new Post Falls location.

The Bozeman-based company dominates the industry, according to Torgerson, because of the niche service it provides.

Although its roughly 400 firefighters are fully trained to National Wildfire Coordinating Group standards and are members of the International Association of Firefighters union, they have a unique mission.

Wildfire Defense does not contract with any public agency, ministry or province.

Instead, its sole clients are insurance companies.

At no additional cost, property owners may have their home or business serviced before, during and after a wildfire if their insurance provider contracts with Wildfire Defense.

“Our insurance client contracts prohibit us from releasing client information,” Scott Eskwitt, spokesperson for the company, said in an email. “What we can say is that a broad swath of insurance companies include our services in their homeowner policies, from the country’s largest insurance companies to regional insurers.”

Servicing a property may include proactive steps to ensure it survives a wildfire, such as removing combustible materials, cleaning out gutters or setting up sprinkler systems.

During a wildfire, company personnel may operate sprinkler systems, apply firebreaks and even deploy environmentally safe fire-retardant gel to structures.

After a fire concludes, the company will return to properties to put out any remaining spot fires, according to information provided by Eskwitt.

Response priority is based on the level of threat to a property, not its value, he said.

Since it began protecting homes in 2008, the company has grown to servicing insurance companies and their clients in 22 states, Alberta and British Columbia, according to Torgerson. The company is privately held, and its revenues are not disclosed.

“We’ve responded to roughly 1,400 wildfires since our inception and have serviced close to 100,000 homes and businesses inside perimeters of wildfire evacuation zones,” he said.

The company operates eight locations, including three in California, two in Colorado, and ones in Montana, Oregon and Idaho, according to its website.

It has served the Inland Northwest for years, including during the destructive Oregon Road and Gray fires last year, Eskwitt said. But its new Post Falls facility will increase the company’s presence.

Carson Monson, vice president of corporate services, said the location is the company’s most impressive.

“This main building is 47,800 square feet and the detached garage is 13,300 square feet,” Monson said during the event. “We now have eight buildings completed, and this one is the most complex and most advanced.”

The facility can accommodate up to 36 firefighters and 20 support vehicles, according to Eskwitt.

Monson said the location will also serve as offices for administrative and executive personnel.

A training center and space subleased by commercial tenants are also part of the Post Falls operation.

The development is built on a track record of success, according to Torgerson.

More than 99% of the residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural properties Wildfire Defense has served during fires have survived, he said.

“At any given wildfire, as many as 50% of properties affected are part of wildfire response programs that we serve,” he said. “That’s how we contribute to returning families to their home and businesses.”