Small fire extinguished at Great Northern Fairgrounds

A small grass fire that started on the Great Northern Fairgrounds Tuesday was quickly extinguished, resulting in no real damage.

Bob Horne, manager of the fairgrounds, said he first heard about the fire at around 10 a.m. He said two other fairgrounds employees told him of the fire after someone told them that smoke was rising from a portion of long grass on the southeast edge of the fairgrounds along 2nd Street.

Upon receiving word of the smoke, Horne drove to the scene and extinguished the small fire with a fire extinguisher.

Havre Fire Chief Tim Hedges said a call was made to dispatch at about 10:20 a.m. Hedges said he later arrived at the scene. A fire truck also came onto the scene.

Hedges said there was no damage beyond an estimated 15-by-20-square foot patch of grass, which was doused by the firefighters to ensure the fire would not reignite.

Hedges said the cause of the fire is undetermined, but it probably was the result of a fireworks that had been lying in the grass for sometime.

"It was caused in an area where there were a lot of fireworks going off," Hedges said. "The problem is we couldn't find any of the fireworks."

Hedges said the fire was likely not started as a result of the fireworks display by the Havre Jaycees the night before, since the fire was not in an area adjacent to where those fireworks were set off.