News you can use
News you can use
Commission to make decision today
People attend a meeting this morning about closing due to alleged fire code violations the Jaycees haunted house and an escape room set up on the Great Northern Fairgrounds as part of Halloween activities there.
Halloween-ish decorations adorn the escape room at the Great Northern Fairgrounds. Fairgrounds manager Frenk English said Thursday he was told the haunted house and an escape house at the fairgrounds had to be closed because the state fire marshal said they violated fire codes, but the state fire marshal tole Havre Daily News Thursday he had not issued any such order. Hill County Commissioner said this morning during a meeting this morning that the commission would have a decision today on what could remain open in the Halloween events at the fairgrounds.
In a meeting this morning with Great Northern Fairgrounds event organizers, fairgrounds staff and the Hill County Commission, Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said he has received more information about three events with fire code concerns and, in light of that new information, the commission will decide whether each of these events meet the fire codes outlined to the commission by the state.
He said he hopes to have a decision on all three by noon today and would contact local media, including the Havre Daily News, to notify the public of their decisions which he pleaded with the community to be understanding of.
Watch for more on this on http://www.havredailynews.com and on the Havre Daily News Facebook page.
Peterson and Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Amanda Frickel said during this morning's meeting in the Hill County Courthouse that, based on what they now know, the escape room seems like it meets code after some modifications by its organizers, and 4-H can serve food in their Chuckwagon as long as they limit occupancy to 99 people at a time.
However, they said, the Jaycees Haunted House is more difficult, with Frickel noting that there are fire codes that the event cannot meet even with modifications, at least not in the time frame they are working with.
Frickel said the reason this situation seemed to come out of nowhere like it did is because now that the fire suppression agreement between Rural Fire District 1, which encompasses the fairgrounds, and the city of Havre has been signed, fire codes will be enforced locally, and because this agreement for fire suppression is so important to the community they need to be vigilant about the enforcement of fire codes.
Peterson and Frickel said they, and multiple other people involved with this situation, have been sent threats of physical violence in the wake of possible cancellations.
Peterson said Acting State Fire Marshal Dirk Johnson, who did not participate in today's meeting, has told him he would not comment on this situation further until the Montana Department of Labor examines the buildings and provides ratings for them that his office can use.
He said Johnson has been invited to a Wednesday afternoon public meeting to clarify details regarding this situation, but he doesn't know if he will show up.
The circumstances around the apparent cancellation of the Jaycees Haunted House at the Great Northern Fairgrounds Commercial Building remain unclear as county and state officials' stories seem to contradict each other.
Great Northern Fairgrounds Manager Frank English, who was not at this morning's meeting, said Thursday that he was approached earlier that day by Rural Fire District 1 Board Chair Steve Jamruszka, who told him that the Jaycees Haunted House and Escape Room, a pair of events that are part of a two-week-long Halloween Celebration at the fairgrounds, were being shut down on the authority of the state fire marshal.
The fairgrounds are part of Rural Fire District 1, which, after a long and contentious negotiation process over fire code enforcements, just reached an agreement with the city of Havre for its fire department to continue to provide fire suppression in the district.
English said he was provided no documents to support this shutdown order, but Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson contradicted this by saying Jamruszka showed English supporting documents on Jamruszka's phone.
Havre Daily had not been able to contact Jamruszka for comment Thursday.
Peterson said he was sent an email from Johnson saying the events had to shut down.
"According to an email I have seen, Mr. Johnson said the spook house and the escape room were a no-go, because the buildings they were in were not up to fire code," he said.
He said he was told the commission could handle the situation and he asked Johnson for the materials necessary to do that.
Peterson said RFD1 signed an agreement with the city of Havre saying that the former would enforce the fire codes in the area and that is what is being done.
"I'm gonna follow the law," he said.
Peterson's story regarding Johnson's involvement in this situation was seemingly contradicted by Johnson himself.
"The State Fire Marshall's Office would not issue a shutdown order without first doing an inspection -neither of which has occurred in this instance," Johnson said in a statement to the Havre Daily News Thursday afternoon. "At the request of fairgrounds personnel, the State Fire Marshall's Office did a walk through in March and pointed out potential issues should they want to hold large events and an inspection later be requested. To date, no such inspection has been requested."
Peterson said he would send the Havre Daily News the correspondence he's had with Johnson, but no such emails have been sent by print deadline this morning.
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