Information given on Great Northern Fairgrounds fire codes

The Great Northern Fair Board met with Acting State Fire Marshal Dirk Johnson and local representatives from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry to discuss fire codes and concluded that all typical events held on the Great Northern Fairgrounds, with the exception of indoor haunted houses, can proceed as normal, with a few caveats.

The issue of fire code compliance on the fairgrounds became a local controversy when a number of Halloween events, including an escape room, a haunted house and a concert, were nearly canceled in October when their legality was called into question due to apparent fire code violations in the buildings the events were being held in.

The events were eventually approved by the Hill County Commission, but the ongoing enforcement of fire codes seemed to make many events regularly held in buildings on the fairgrounds potentially unviable.

The Hill County Commission and other public officials came under fire when it seemed likely that many of the events could be canceled, and many of these people received threats of physical violence, along with a plethora of less-threatening but insulting messages on social media.

Johnson started Wednesday's meeting by saying he wants to make it clear that neither his department, nor the Department of Labor and Industry are looking to shut anything down, but to help the fair board run safe events.

"We're here to help you, not kill you off," he said.

Johnson, members of the board, Great Northern Fairgrounds Manager Frank English and DOL representatives discussed the buildings on the grounds that have had their fire code compliance questioned and, after some back and forth, DOL Eastern Field Program Manager Darrell Aaby said the Bigger Better Barn and the Community Center, owing to their age, are grandfathered in under older codes and very little would have to be done to keep them compliant.

Aaby said he did have a couple suggestions for the Community Center to make it safer, namely illuminated exit signs and installing a smart burner in the kitchen.

Smart burners, he said, have a mechanism that automatically shuts them off once they reach a certain temperature, reducing chances of burners being left on.

He said he can't force the fair board to make these changes, but he would highly recommend them.

English said the fair recently got illuminated exit signs and would be putting them up shortly, and he, and the board, agreed to look into smart burners.

As for the Bigger Better Barn, there was some discussion regarding how the serving of food and alcohol affect the building's compliance with codes, but ultimately it was determined that the barn's typical events can proceed without any changes, other than fixing the door, which the board is working on.

Aaby said as long as the board lets his department know what they plan to do with the door and fills out the proper paperwork there should be no issues.

The 4-H Chuckwagon, which is owned by Hill County 4-H, was the third building whose compliance was in question, and Aaby said, because it's a newer building, it is not grandfathered in, so it will need to have a sprinkler and alarm system installed.

Members of the fair board said they are getting the ball rolling on that, and Aaby said as long as they are keeping his department up to date and filling out the necessary paperwork they can keep using the building as they normally do, provided they designate someone to lookout for potential safety hazards during events.

While the fire marshal and DOL indicated that most everything on the grounds can proceed as normal, one thing they said was basically impossible to hold safely was haunted houses.

Johnson said the codes for indoor haunted houses in Montana are extremely strict, to the point where they are effectively impossible to hold unless a building is made specifically for them.

He said the codes stipulate not just sprinkler systems be installed but an alarm system that, when tripped, illuminates the entire area, shuts off all noise and illuminates the exits, something no building in the state has.

"I don't want to shut down a haunted house, they're a money maker (for the community), but there's no one who can meet that code unless you build a building for it," he said.

Johnson said indoor haunted houses are very difficult to make safe and while he's sympathetic to the people who will no doubt be disappointed by this, the consequences of someone getting hurt in a haunted house could be disastrous.

"If someone gets hurt in a haunted house, and it doesn't meet that code, there's not a checkbook big enough," he said.

Johnson did however say there is a big way to get around a lot of this, taking the event out doors.

He said haunted mazes are much easier to make safe, and if people want to do a haunted house, that is a good way to do it.

Another topic of discussion was escape rooms, which the fair is looking into making regular events on the grounds and Johnson said, as long as the building being used is under 1,000 square feet and is only being used for a temporary event, escape rooms are fine.

He made some suggestions on how to run them safely, and English said they had all of those suggestions covered.

Clearing up a controversy

While the fair board and fairgrounds employees appear to have finally gotten some clarity on the immediate issue of fire code compliance, the circumstances surrounding how the conflict began have been unclear for months as stories regarding the events that led up to it contradict each other.

When the controversy first began in late-October Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said he was sent an email from Johnson saying many events at the fairgrounds 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 Oct. 21 of 2021.

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 that 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 the statement, "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 had not responded to requests for comment by printing deadline this morning.

Johnson said in Wednesday's meeting that he had spoken with English about events and provided him with information early in March, but never shut anything down.

He said he also, shortly before the controversy erupted, was asked for some information by Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Amanda Frickel on fire codes and in response sent her relevant codes, which Frickel said she forwarded to the commission.

Johnson said this is where his involvement with the initial controversy began and ended, that all he did was send information in answer to questions.

In response to Johnson's initial statement Peterson said he would send the Havre Daily News the correspondence he's had with Johnson, but later 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.

The next week Peterson's story changed again, with him saying that it was not an email, but a text sent to someone else's private phone that he saw.

When asked who this person was he refused to answer.

Peterson said at the time that it would be prudent to forget the past and move forward toward solving this problem and not stir things up any more.