Three fairgrounds Halloween events approved by commission, one still in flux

The Hill County Commission has decided that three Halloween events at the Great Northern Fairgrounds — the Havre Jaycees Haunted House, the escape room and a 4-H halloween celebration in the 4-H Chuckwagon — can move forward after their compliance with fire codes was called into question late last week.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said this morning that they are still discussing whether or not to approve the concert in the Bigger Better Barn, but the fire safety issues could easily be sidestepped entirely by moving it into the beer gardens.

These decisions come after the county raised concerns last week that the buildings these events were being held in did not meet the fire codes that are now being enforced thanks to a recent fire suppression agreement between the city of Havre and Rural Fire District 1, which stipulates that codes must be enforced.

Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Amanda Frickel, who also handles fire code enforcement for RFD1, said the recent signing of this contract is why this issue seemed to come out of nowhere despite events like this being held without trouble in the past, because until now fire codes were not being enforced in Rural Fire District 1, a ring around Havre city limits which also includes the fairgrounds.

Friday, the commission met with event organizers and fairgrounds staff to get more details about the events and discuss the specific problems with each and what can be done about them.

Peterson said he and the county had some misconceptions about some of the events and hoped this meeting would alleviate the county’s concerns and illuminate a way forward for the events to be held safely.

Escape House Organizer Teresa Barrett said the contract for this event was signed two months ago and, upon being notified of this problem, they have made efforts to modify the event to comply with fire codes.

Barrett said no more than six people will be in the escape room at a time and they are in communication with the outside at all times, so the room can easily be opened if anything goes wrong.

Peterson said in light of these modifications the event seems fine and Frickel agreed.

T.J. Daulton of the Havre Jaycees said their haunted house has barriers that are easily torn down, and they’ve updated the event’s lighting to be more in line with the codes.

Daulton said groups that go through the haunted house are no bigger than 10 and no more than 40 people, staff included, are in the building at any given time.

He said some of the performers roam the building with flashlights and walky-talkies to keep an eye on everything and follow younger groups in case they need help.

One of the main concerns brought up was illuminated exits and those at the meeting proposed getting some reflective signs with lights pointed at them to make absolutely sure people are aware of where they need to go if they have to leave.

They also discussed putting up more smoke detectors.

After the meeting, Frickel said she still has major concerns about the event with regards to code compliance and she still sees issues that cannot be addressed in the timeframe needed to hold the event, but it was up to the commissioners.

She said she isn’t at all against events like this and she realizes how important they are to people, but now that RFD1 is enforcing fire codes, and the fire suppression agreement with the city depends on their enforcement, this is a serious issue.

Chirping Meadowlarks 4-H Leader Reba Domire talked about the Halloween celebration they intended to hold in the 4-H Chuckwagon and it was determined that as long as they keep an eye on occupancy and don’t let it get over 99, the event can go on as planned.

Frickel said a complicating factor in all of this is that the county was not provided advance notice of these events and what they entail, and they need to be forwarned about these kinds of things and that having them publicized in the Havre Daily News and on the radio is not enough.

She said stronger lines of communication between the county and the fairgrounds need to be established so they remain apprised of everything going on.

She also apologized that she wasn’t able to respond to every inquiry regarding the situation on Thursday as she was on the road and out of cellphone reception for the better part of that day.

At the end of the meeting Peterson said he hoped to have a decision on all events by noon that day and the Chuckwagon events and escape room were approved early that afternoon, but word on the haunted house was not received until late Friday evening via Frickel.

Peterson said he can’t guarantee what they decide will be liked by everyone, but decisions need to be made.

“These events are important, they are important to our community, but we’ve run up against this wall,” he said.

Peterson said if people are upset with the restrictive nature of the codes then he encourages them to take their concerns to the Montana Legislature the next time they are in session to make their voices heard because the ongoing enforcement of these codes will affect many fairgrounds events going forward.

The potential cancellation of these events became extremely divisive late last week with Peterson and Frickel saying they, and multiple other people involved with this situation at the county level, have been sent numerous threats of physical violence.

At the meeting, Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean lamented the position she and her fellow elected officials are in, saying that a month ago everyone was angry with them because RFD1 didn’t have fire suppression due to the contract with the city still being in flux at the time, and now everyone is angry because they are enforcing the codes that make that suppression agreement possible.

McLean said this situation is new territory for them and the government cannot protect everyone at all times despite the increasingly popular opinion that it should.

She also said the commission is assumed to have far more power than it has and mentioned that a call was made to Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office by someone who assumed the commission was capable of far more than it is.

Origins of controversy

remain unclear

While the immediate issue of these events’ potential cancellation appears to be reaching resolution, the circumstances leading up to them remain unclear as local and state officials provide contradictory accounts of what happened.

Great Northern Fairgrounds Manager Frank English, who was not at Friday’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 the 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, provided they enforce fire codes locally.

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.

Peterson said he was sent an email from Acting State Fire Marshal Dirk 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 on Thursday.

However, Peterson’s story regarding Johnson’s involvement in this situation was seemingly contradicted by Johnson himself in a statement sent to the Havre Daily News Thursday afternoon.

“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 after Friday’s meeting said someone else has the email of Johnson telling him the fairgrounds events needed to be shut down and he needs to get it from them.

No further clarification has been provided on this situation by Peterson, and no email has since been produced.

Requests for the email from Johnson have also not been returned by print deadline this morning.

Peterson also said Johnson told him the commission has the authority to make determinations regarding these events, and at Friday’s meeting he said Johnson told him he would not comment on the matter further until the buildings in which these events are being held were given ratings by the Montana Department of Labor, which his office can use to make determinations.

After the meeting Peterson said Johnson has been invited to a public meeting Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the 4-H Chuckwagon to provide clarification on all of this.