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Ryegrass is rated fire resistant, with three regional sources agreeing on that verdict.
FireSmart BC’s plant program approves ryegrass as fire resistant. Utah State University Extension lists Lolium species as firewise for Utah landscapes when properly used and maintained, while Montana State University Extension includes ryegrass among fire-resistant plants adapted to Montana. Together, these sources cover British Columbia, the Intermountain West and the Northern Rockies without producing a conflicting assessment.
The Utah condition matters: ryegrass earns its firewise status when properly used and maintained. Fire resistance is therefore not a reason to neglect how it is placed or cared for. Still, the agreement is unusually clear. Ryegrass, a grass in the Poaceae family, belongs on the fire-resistant side of a landscape plan under the terms given by these programs.
Form
grass
Rated in
British Columbia; Montana / Northern Rockies; Utah / Intermountain West
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
The April 2022 MontGuide explicitly presents fire-resistant species adapted to Montana. FireApproved publishes 92 exact plant records from the source while retaining excluded genus, family, and unresolved rows; the guide itself says not every listed species grows in every part of the state.
Utah State University Extension states that this fact sheet selects examples for Utah landscapes and that they require proper placement and maintenance. FireApproved publishes 83 exact source owners at Utah publication scope. The table is not a site-specific planting clearance.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in WA, OR, ID.
Native range
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
Broader regional context
Federal context
How to read this page
The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.
Where its sources say to plant it
Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating.
They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.
FireSmart BC Plant Program: suitable for HIZ extended zone (30-100 m) [FireSmart BC Home Ignition Zone] (with its recommendation)
The evidence
Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself
(a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or
republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.
