We Defend Homes
From Wildfire.
Big Sky Fire Defense assesses your property, builds a layered defense around it, and installs and maintains what keeps it ready — before fire season, not during it. Local crew, honest assessment, based in Montana.
A short, no-pressure call — we walk through your property's risk and the options that fit it. Prefer to talk first? Call Benton: 406-422-2716
We Protect What You've Built —
Home, Ranch, or Business.
We're not a product. We're the crew that comes to your property, works out how a wildfire would actually reach it, and builds the defense to stop it. Four layers, matched to what your property needs.
We Assess Your Property
We start with your property — the slope, the fuels, the wind, the single road in, and the weak points on the house itself. You get an honest picture of your risk before anyone talks about a product or a price.
We Harden the Home
Home hardening is hands-on work we do — the details fire exploits: vents, decks, siding, gutters, and clearing combustibles out of the first five feet. We'll also walk your defensible space and map what needs thinning or limbing, so you know exactly what to tackle — though the heavy tree and brush clearing itself is a separate crew's job, not ours.
We Treat What's Left
The trees, wood, decks, and siding you can't remove get a seasonal coating of fire inhibitor before fire season — a clear, plant-safe layer that stays put when water would already be gone.
We Install Exterior Systems
Where it makes sense, we design and install an off-grid exterior system — its own tank and pump — that coats your home and landscape with fire inhibitor on demand, without depending on the grid or city water.
What's In The
Treatment Matters
Most wildfire retardants in the U.S. are built on ammonium polyphosphate — chemically similar to agricultural fertilizer. Independent research and a recent federal court ruling have raised concerns worth knowing before you choose a treatment for your land.
Toxic Heavy Metals
A 2024 peer-reviewed study found phosphate-based retardants contained arsenic at 286 µg/L — 29× the EPA drinking water limit. Cadmium: 19×. Vanadium: 17×. Manganese: 13×. Chromium: 6×. Heavy metals don't break down — every application adds to permanent soil contamination.
Source: Schammel et al. (2024), Environmental Science & Technology Letters
Federal Court Ruling
A U.S. District Court ruled that discharging phosphate retardant near waterways without an NPDES permit violates the Clean Water Act. Any entity applying these chemicals is now in legal exposure.
Why We Install
CitroTech®
The same comparison in one place, line by line, so you can see why we chose what we install.
| Feature | Legacy Retardants | CitroTech® — Big Sky Fire Defense |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Safer Choice Certified | ✗ No | ✓ Only product in the U.S. |
| Phosphates / Toxic Heavy Metals | ✗ Yes — at dangerous levels | ✓ Zero phosphates. Zero heavy metals. |
| Works without water or power | ✗ Utility-dependent | ✓ Onboard tank, phone-triggered |
| Appearance after application | ✗ Red dye — stains structures | ✓ Patented chemistry dries completely clear |
| Duration of protection | ✗ Minutes–hours (while wet only) | ✓ Up to 3 months per application |
| Safe for waterways & aquatic life | ✗ 2024 federal court Clean Water Act violation | ✓ Non-toxic — freshwater & saltwater certified |
| Class A lumber fire rating | ✗ Requires pressure treatment; weakens wood | ✓ Surface-integrated, structural integrity preserved |
CitroTech is the only EPA Safer Choice certified fire inhibitor in the country. Big Sky Fire Defense is a CitroTech partner serving the region.
Certified
Gold Certified
Compliance
Ignition Test
Phosphates
Heavy Metals
Three Ways to
Protect What You've Built
Whether you're protecting an existing home, building a new one in a WUI zone, or managing high-risk corridor — there's a CitroTech solution for your situation.
CitroSafe™ Systems
A standalone sprinkler array with its own onboard tank of CitroTech fire inhibitor — trigger it from your phone as you evacuate and your home keeps defending itself.
- Roof-mounted or perimeter configuration
- No water or power connection required
- Operates during outages — activate remotely
- Installed in 3–7 days by certified crew
- Adds a layer of active defense that insurance can't provide
Lumber Treatment
Class A fire protection integrated at the framing stage. No pressure treatment. No structural compromise. For the first time, any wood-framed home can be Class A fire rated.
- OSB, plywood, lumber & mass timber
- Dries clear — preserves natural grain & aesthetics
- Factory or field applied — no delays
- ASTM E84 & TER 2504-101 compliant
- Reduces insurance exposure for buyers
Proactive Spraying
Ground-applied fire inhibitor treatment for roadsides, power line easements, community perimeters, and high-risk WUI corridors. Works 24/7 when aerial drops can't fly.
- Roadsides, right-of-way & utility easements
- Creates a treated perimeter that slows fire activity
- No NPDES exposure — Clean Water Act safe
- Safe for waterways, fish & aquatic life
- Trusted by firefighters & federal agencies
The Risk Is
Already Here
29 Years
Building.
One Mission:
Protect It.
Big Sky Fire Defense is based in Philipsburg, Montana — not a California call center. Our founder brings 29 years of construction experience, a licensed independent adjuster background, and CitroTech partner credentials to every project.
We know what it costs to build a Montana home. We know what it costs to lose one. That's why we're a CitroTech partner that installs its defense systems — the only EPA Safer Choice wildfire protection available anywhere.
About Big Sky Fire Defense