In 2010, Kevin Straub moved home to Montana and applied to work for the Missoula Fire Department. He had already been a career firefighter for seven years in Gallatin County and eight years in Missouri, but he didn’t make Missoula’s cut. It wasn’t for lack of ability. Rather, it was because of his Polson address: Straub lived too far outside of Missoula’s firefighter residency requirement to be considered.
He couldn’t just move to Missoula – his wife was a physician in Polson and had to adhere to the hospital’s policy of living within 20 minutes of the medical center. “I was trying to stay in the career of being a paid firefighter, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get on because of the residential requirements,” he said.
Thanks to a recent amendment passed by the Missoula City Council, people like Straub who live outside of Missoula will be eligible to be on the city’s fire team. Starting November 2025, the Missoula Fire Department will allow firefighters to live farther from city limits in hopes of giving staff more lifestyle flexibility and improving recruitment.
