Billings, Montana, animal shelter evacuated after inhaling narcotics smoke

The nonprofit Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings, Montana, evacuated its animals after smoke from burning narcotics in a crematorium leaked into its building.

The shelter rents its space from the city of Billings and shares the building with the city’s animal control operation, which houses a crematorium.

After previous reports of smoke leaks, the city repaired the crematorium in 2024. No further leaks flowed into the shelter until Wednesday, the facility said on its website.

Over the years, the shelter was told that the Billings Police Department used the crematorium to dispose of evidence. On Wednesday, narcotics, specifically methamphetamine, was destroyed in the crematorium unbeknownst to shelter staff, the facility’s executive director, Triniti Halverson, said.

The FBI used the crematorium to destroy two pounds of meth, according to The Associated Press. 

The police said in a release that it “follows a set schedule for narcotics destruction, in which the health department is notified as well as documentation of each disposal. The Billings Police Department and partner agencies have long used the incinerator for narcotics destruction.”

The smoke got into the shelter, police said, due to negative pressure. The facility had lower air pressure, so the smoke flowed in.

Billings Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland told AP on Friday that a fan that was supposed to be used to blow the smoke away was “not readily available.”

The staff at the shelter masked up and got the animals out of the building once smoke started leaking through what’s called a feline isolation room. 

Ms. Halverson said she and 13 other staffers were exposed to the methamphetamine smoke and that several got sick. They went to a local hospital for treatment.

The most affected animals are being held at another Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter building, and a local veterinary clinic is also helping treat the animals. The shelter’s main building will be closed for two weeks to a month while it’s decontaminated.