Montana
Smoke cloud from meth seized by FBI sends Montana animal shelter workers to hospital
The future of a Montana animal shelter remains uncertain after a cloud of smoke from two pounds of methamphetamine seized by the FBI and incinerated filled up the building and sent workers to the hospital.
The smoke started to fill the building of the nonprofit Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings on Wednesday while the FBI used an incinerator at the animal shelter to burn the drugs, city officials said.
Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland said Friday that the smoke was sucked in apparently because of negative pressure. A fan was supposed to be on hand in such situations to reverse the pressure so smoke would flow out of the building, but it wasn’t readily available.
The incinerator is used primarily to burn carcasses of animals euthanized or collected by the city’s animal control division. But every couple of months, local law enforcement or FBI agents use it to burn seized narcotics, Iffland said.
Fourteen animal shelter workers were evacuated and went to the hospital. The shelter’s 75 dogs and cats were relocated or put into foster homes, said Iffland and shelter director Triniti Halverson.
The shelter shares space with Billings’ animal control division. When smoke started filling parts of the building, Halverson assumed it was from burning carcasses because she said they had never known about the drug burns.
Halverson said she had a very intense headache and sore throat, and others had dizziness, sweating and coughing.
“Not a party,” she said.
The workers found out it was methamphetamine smoke through a call from a city official while they were in the hospital, Halverson said. Most of the staff spent several hours in an oxygen chamber for treatment.
Symptoms have lingered for some workers, Halverson said.
They were also closely monitoring four litters of kittens that got more heavily exposed because they were in a closed room with lots of smoke, she said.
The FBI routinely uses outside facilities to conduct controlled drug evidence burns, agency spokesperson Sandra Barker said. She referred further questions to Billings officials.
A city animal control supervisor who was present for Wednesday’s burn declined to go to the hospital, Iffland said. The FBI agents were told to go to the hospital by their supervisor.
The incinerator is meant to operate at a certain temperature, so it doesn’t emit toxins. Iffland said officials were trying to determine if it was at the appropriate temperature on Wednesday.
The shelter will remain closed until it can be tested for contamination. Shelter workers were tested for potential exposure, and Iffland said he did not know the results.
“We have no idea of how much we’ve lost,” shelter board member and attorney Frans Andersson told CBS affiliate KTVQ. “We don’t have inventory at the moment of what was in there.”
The company hired to assess and clean up the building told the station that they are doing air quality tests before any remediation can happen.
“This is a unique situation and project,” said Andrew Newman, owner and CEO of Newman Restoration. “Typically, what we’ll see is more on the residential side with, you know, kind of a meth lab that either caused a fire or triggered some type of needing remediation. With this being a larger commercial facility and what the intentions were, it makes it a unique situation and cleanup.”
Newman expects the lab results to come back by next week.
Billings resident Jay Ettlemen went to the shelter on Friday to donate dog food and said he was angry when he found out about the drug burns.
“Why the hell are they destroying drugs inside the city limits?” Ettlemen asked. “There’s so many other places in the middle of nowhere.”
RAVALLI, Mont. — A 35-year-old man is dead after a two vehicle crash on Highway 93 North near Ravalli on Sunday morning, according to Montana Highway Patrol.
The driver of a Honda Civic traveling northbound in the southbound lanes was declared dead on scene after colliding with a Ford F-150 that was traveling southbound.
The driver of the Ford F-150 was injured in the accident taken to St. Luke Community Healthcare in Ronan.
Montana Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
CARBON COUNTY — Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is working to acquire two senior water rights along the West Fork of Rock Creek near Red Lodge to address critically low water levels that are threatening the fish population.
The creek, which flows around the Red Lodge community, may appear full to casual observers, but wildlife officials say the flow is dangerously low for fish survival.
Watch FWP discuss the need for these water rights for Rock Creek:
Montana FWP seeking water rights for Rock Creek
“To have these water levels, it can have an impact on the fishery over there,” Chrissy Webb with Fish, Wildlife and Parks said. “Over the past few years, we’ve been seeing really low water levels for these trout, which is obviously a huge issue. Fish, of course, need water.”
The proposed solution involves purchasing two senior water rights that were previously used for irrigation and transferring them to remain in the stream for fishery protection.
“This would be water that was once diverted for irrigation. Those water rights would transfer to remain in the stream for the protection of this fishery,” Webb said.
Acquiring water rights is a complex process, but Webb emphasized the urgency of the situation. Without intervention, the fish population could decline quickly.
“We need water levels to be at a certain level for fish to survive. And we need water temperatures to be low enough for these trout to survive. And then, like I said, some places in Rock Creek have even experienced total dewatering of the stream bed,” Webb said.
FWP plans to purchase the water rights for $330,000. The process involves the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
“They’re working with the owner of those water rights to transfer their purpose from irrigation to being in stream flows,” Webb said.
The DNRC will ultimately decide whether FWP has the authority to purchase the water rights. The access to water would come from Giant Springs in Great Falls.
Michael Downey with the DNRC said mid to low elevation areas are particularly lacking adequate stream levels, but is confident they will rise as the year continues.
“If you look at where snowpack is right now, even those places that are below normal, certainly that Rock Creek drainage is probably the one in the area that looks worse than most,” Downey said.
On Feb. 12, the DNRC will decide if the FWP has the authority to purchase those water rights.
Indiana football continued its reload in the secondary on Sunday with the commitment of Montana State transfer cornerback Carson Williams.
Standing at 6-foot-1 and 165 pounds, Williams made his commitment to head coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers after a weekend visit to Indiana. Williams has three years of eligibility remaining.
MORE: Transfer Portal Thread | Indiana football transfer portal tracker | Indiana football’s transfer portal wish list: A position-by-position breakdown of 2026 needs
Williams, who hails from Houston, Texas, amassed 46 total tackles, eight pass breakups and 2.5 tackles for loss in 2025 with the Bobcats. He also forced and recovered a fumble this past season.
The 2025 season was Williams’ second at the college level after he redshirted in 2024 as a true freshman.
Entering this portal cycle, cornerback was a large question mark for the Hoosiers. D’Angelo Ponds could potentially leave early for the NFL Draft and depth corner Amariyun Knighten has already entered the portal, but outside of those two, Indiana returns everyone else at cornerback.
Williams now joins a 2026 cornerback room that features returners Jamari Sharpe, Ryland Gandy and Jaylen Bell, while Ponds’ decision on his future is expected to come following Indiana’s run in the College Football Playoff.
Williams is rated as the No. 795 overall transfer and the No. 91-ranked cornerback in the portal.
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