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The Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings, Montana was forced to evacuate 75 dogs and cats after the FBI incinerated two pounds of meth at the facility. Not only that, 14 employees of the animal shelter had to go to the emergency room at the local hospital as a result of the drug burn.
Normally, the incinerator at the facility is used to dispose of euthanized animals or carcasses collected by the city’s animal control division. In this case, however, FBI agents, as they have done in the past, used it to burn seized the narcotics. They just didn’t tell the employees of the shelter that they were doing it this time. At least according to Triniti Halverson, Executive Director of Yellowstone Valley Animal Center.
“I can firmly and confidently say that, as the Executive Director, I did not know that they were disposing of extremely dangerous narcotics onsite,” Halverson said in a statement. “When the smoke started pouring out of one of our feline isolation rooms, I instructed staff to put on COVID masks and begin evacuating the animals.”
Animals that were exposed to the most smoke are now under close observation, especially four litters of kittens that were in a closed room with the smoke. All 14 employees who went to the emergency room spent around three hours in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to combat the effects of smoke inhalation, the BBC reported. The employees only learned that they had inhaled methamphetamine smoke after a call from a city official while they were the hospital. The FBI agents were also told to go to the hospital by their superiors.
The Associated Press reported that the smoke from the meth burn started to fill the building because of negative pressure that sucked it back inside. Billings Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland said a fan was supposed to be on hand to reverse the pressure so the smoke would flow out of the building, but it wasn’t available at the time.
Decontaminating the building will now take anywhere from two weeks to a month. In the meantime, the Yellowstone Valley Animal Center is taking monetary donations and have arranged for an alternative drop-off location for other donations.
“We are displaced, lost, and homeless. For many of us — staff, volunteers, and fosters — YVAS is our safe space,” Halverson said. “Our sanctuary to do what we do best: care for the animals in our community. Sending away more than 20 people needing services in the last 24 hours has completely gutted us. We WANT to help and in the same breath, we NEED help.”
Many Billings residents expressed frustration that the incident occurred. One resident, Jay Ettlemen, said to the AP, “Why the hell are they destroying drugs inside the city limits? There’s so many other places in the middle of nowhere.”