Multiple fires hit Havre area over the weekend

The past 48 hours saw a considerable amount of fires in the Havre area with many suspected to have been started by fireworks amid the ongoing drought conditions.

Havre Fire Chief Mel Paulson said this was about average for his department in terms of Fourth of July weekends but they were still kept quite busy.

"This is about right in the middle," he said. "... We've had years where we didn't have any calls, and we've had years where we've had 30."

Paulson said most of the fires were small with most measuring a half-acre or less, and no major property damage or injuries have been sustained in their wake.

Between 9:23 p.m. Sunday and 3 a.m. this morning the department put out or investigated eight fires in which fireworks were a possible cause.

One fire on U.S. Highway 2 West came very close to the Havre Animal Shelter which was in the process of being evacuated when the fire was brought under control.

Havre Animal Control Officer Peter Federspiel who was there at the time said staff and 20 volunteers, who happened to be in the area worked to get dogs and cats out of the building as quickly and safely as possible.

"We have a lot of animals in here and it was imperative that we get the fire knocked down and the animals out and safe," Federspiel said.

Paulson said the cause of this fire is still under investigation, but Federspiel said he found spent fireworks in the area where it happened, and he believes this was the cause.

"It was 100 percent started by a firework," he said.

He thanked the community members who stepped up to help the animals, but lamented that one feral cat escaped during the crating process, and a couple volunteers sustained minor injuries in the form of cat scratches and bites during the process.

He also thanked the City Shop Crew for spraying water on the building in an attempt to lessen the chances that it would catch fire should the flames reach it.

The largest fire the department put out began Monday night around 11:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of U.S. Highway 2 West near the Holiday Village Mall and was 10 acres.

He said the flames spread to a soon-to-be scrapped bus, but otherwise only brush was harmed in the fire which took three fire engines and 10 people to put out, a task that wasn't completed until 3 a.m. today.

Paulson said the cause of this fire is under investigation and it appears there was a vehicle involved, but other than that the cause is still unknown.

Paulson said the department did get some false alarms during the last few days, and said these tend to be the result of people being over-vigilant, seeing fireworks and mistaking them for a fire, or seeing smoke from a distance and misjudging the fire's location.

"That happens quite a bit," he said. "People see smoke and they call in a fire, which they should, it's just not always where the fire is at, especially at night."