Seven fires break out in Havre

Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson

An unattached garage catches fire Wednesday evening on 2nd Street on the east side of Havre.

Judging from the noise Wednesday, most people spent the Fourth of July lighting fires and explosives, but only seven had to get firefighters called.

The Havre Fire Department got their first call around 3:56 p.m. from Pacific Steel & Recycling, where a few employees were cutting the bed off of a pickup truck. According to Fire Chief Dave Sheppard, the removed bed was placed next to and ignited a pile of tires.

The rest of the calls were the result of fireworks.

At 5:11 p.m. a call came in from the Saddle Butte area, on 36th Street Southeast, where firefighters believe fireworks caused a small grassfire, which resulted in no injuries or property damage.

At 10:04 p.m. an unattached garage on 2nd Street caught fire. Sheppard said firefighters had to wait for NorthWestern Energy to remove a live power line near the building before they could get started safely. No one was injured, but Sheppard said there was extensive damage to the building.

Neighbors reported seeing kids in the alleyway shortly before the fire was reported, setting off bottle rockets.

At 10:09 p.m. a fire on the Great Northern Fairgrounds was reported, but Sheppard said it must have been extinguished when they arrived, because they couldn't find anything.

Later, as festivities wound down, the origin of the fires were mostly from irresponsible disposal of fireworks

Three dumpster fires were reported after midnight: in the Kmart parking lot at 12:40 a.m., in the alley behind the 1100 Block of 2nd Street at 12:58 a.m., and next to a garbage can on 5th Street at 4:21 a.m..

While no one was injured, and the garage fire was the only one that caused any serious damage, Sheppard said the number and causes of the fires show the main lesson that Havre fireworks fans need to learn: soak your fireworks, wet them down, before you go throwing them in, or next to, a dumpster full of flammable, or inflammable, materials.