At least 14 workers from the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings, Montana, were hospitalised after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) burned two pounds of seized methamphetamine inside the shelter on Wednesday, CBS News reported. As per the report, the officials used an incinerator at the animal shelter to burn the drugs.
Within minutes, smoke started to fill the building, causing symptoms like intense headaches, sore throats, dizziness, sweating and coughing among staff. Staff members, some 75 cats and dogs were evacuated.
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"We have no idea of how much we've lost," shelter board member and attorney Frans Andersson told CBS affiliate KTVQ. "We don't have inventory at the moment of what was in there."
Triniti Halverson, who is the shelter executive director, said that she was unaware that the FBI was burning drugs. "I can firmly and confidently say that, as the Executive Director, I did not know that they were disposing of extremely dangerous narcotics onsite," she said in a statement.
"My team and my animals had been confirmed to have been exposed to meth."
The smoke entered the building probably because of negative pressure, Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland said on Friday. A fan was supposed to be on hand in such situations so that the smoke would flow out of the building, Iffland said. However, it wasn't there.
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The incinerator is often used by government officials to burn seized narcotics, FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker told CBS News. As per a report by the BBC, cats and dogs were relocated, and some other animals, which experienced the most smoke exposure, are now under supervision.
A company was also hired to assess the situation and clean up the building. "This is a unique situation and project," said Andrew Newman, owner and CEO of Newman Restoration.
"Typically, what we'll see is more on the residential side with, you know, kind of a meth lab that either caused a fire or triggered some type of needing remediation. With this being a larger commercial facility and what the intentions were, it makes it a unique situation and cleanup."
