Fourteen workers at an animal shelter in Montana ended up in the hospital after inhaling smoke from a failed FBI drug incineration incident that occurred in their building, according to officials.
On Wednesday, staff at the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings experienced health issues when smoke from an FBI operation infiltrated through a shared ventilation system. City officials reported that the employees were treated at the Billings Clinic’s hyperbaric oxygen chamber after experiencing dizziness, headaches, and coughing.
Shelter Director Trinity Halverson noted that smoke filled the facility just minutes after a fire at the crematorium started, leading to the urgent evacuation of numerous animals, alongside the staff. “Then I caught a whiff and knew something was burning in the crematorium,” Halverson said.
Halverson expressed concern, describing staff members coughing and feeling dizzy and unwell.
Community Engagement Coordinator Izzy Zalenski indicated that the shelter’s HVAC system wasn’t equipped to handle chemical burns, which caused contaminated air to circulate rapidly. “I’d never encountered anything like that before,” Zalenski reflected, adding, “The HVAC system is really just like a standard office setup. It isn’t meant for a shelter.”
Lisette Wautty, who coordinates for lost and stray cats, mentioned that the staff worked frantically to evacuate between 50 to 70 animals from the hazardous smoke. “We were trying to get everyone to safety, but the smoke was thick,” Wautty recalled. Some, including herself, began to feel symptoms like headaches and dizziness while attempting to rescue a kitten.
City authorities later clarified that the smoke resulted from the destruction of methamphetamine evidence during a routine FBI incineration operation.
Assistant City Administrator Kevin Ifland said issues with negative air pressure caused toxic smoke to re-enter the shelter instead of dispersing outside. He admitted that safety fans were supposed to counter this pressure and mentioned that the city is looking into why the established safety protocols failed.
Some FBI personnel involved in the incineration were also hospitalized but were discharged later that same day, officials confirmed.
Halverson had been raising alarms for years about the risk of smoke entering the shelter during drug burns, but her warnings had apparently gone unaddressed. She insisted that the animals had not posed problems with the incinerators before, but when chemical evidence burned, it often resulted in a harsh odor permeating the shelter. Halverson even proposed funding private cremation services to avoid hazards, a suggestion the city rejected.
All animals were evacuated and temporarily placed in veterinary clinics to avoid any potential exposure to chemicals or harm. Halverson mentioned that one kitten with respiratory issues was taken to a nearby clinic for extra care.
Fortunately, despite lingering headaches and coughs, all fourteen employees were released from the hospital by Thursday morning. The shelter will stay closed as restoration crews work on cleaning the facility, while officials evaluate whether it can safely reopen in the future.
