With warmer weather and calmer winds on March 26, many took the chance to do some burning.

The Electric was asked multiple times what was burning and Jason McAllister, the interim Cascade County disaster and emergency services manager, said on March 27 that it “seemed like everybody and their brother” was burning on Wednesday.

There were about 14 active burn permits in Cascade County for March 26 as well as active burns in Teton and Lewis and Clark counties, some of which got away from people, causing the visible smoke in Great Falls.

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McAllister told Cascade County Commissioners during a staff update meeting on March 27 that their seeing an uptick in structure fires, including those started by improper disposal of smoking materials, a trend in the city as well for several months.

Structure fires in the county can easily turn into wildland fires, McAllister said.

On March 28, there were 13 active burn permits in Cascade County.

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County residents can purchase or activate burn permits online and the general public can view the active burn activity.

McAllister told The Electric he’s monitoring conditions daily and can close burning within that website that won’t allow anyone to activate a burn permit while burning is closed. Residents can still purchase a burn permit when burning is prohibited and activate it later.

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Among the conditions he’s considering for burning activity are 20 miles per hour or higher winds, as well as temperatures and humidity, especially as it warms up this spring into summer.

A common problem, McAllister said, is people purchase a burn permit, but then forget to activate it when they’re burning.

If a fire is called in and dispatch doesn’t have an active burn permit listed for that area, rural fire agencies have to respond, which can strain resources.

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Burn permits can be activated online or by calling the automated phone activation system at 1-855-693-2876.

In Cascade County, open burn permits are needed when:

• requesting to burn more than 100 acres of forest slash or more than 2,000 acres of agricultural burning in one year
• requesting to burn clean, untreated wood by-product waste from a business, industrial or demolition project
• Firefighter Training Open Burning Permit: requesting to burn material, including otherwise prohibited materials and structures at a site other than a solid waste disposal site for the specific purpose of training firefighters that accomplishes a legitimate training need

When burning is prohibited in the county, both the website and the automated phone system will prevent you from activating your permit. Both systems will also provide the reasoning as to why burning is prohibited for the day.

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Natural vegetation is the only thing open burn permits allow residents to burn.

The county prohibits burning of materials outlined in the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s air quality regulations, including, but not limited to buildings, asphalt shingles, campers, garbage, railroad ties, plastic products, paper products, cardboard, manure, dead animals, etc.

Open burning is prohibited within the Great Falls city limits and the backyard fire pit regulations are here.

Great Falls Fire Rescue has also been experiencing an uptick in residential fires over the last five months.

Over a four-day period, GFFR responded to three structure fires.

On March 22, GFFR was dispatched at 3:26 p.m. to a house fire at 2736 Carmel Drive.

When the first engine crew arrived, they found a fire on the exterior of the house extending up toward the roof and the occupants outside with their pets.

Crews extinguished the fire and prevented it from getting into the house’s interior, but the northeast corner of the house suffered heavy damage and the garage had minor damage, but residents are able to remain in the home, according to GFFR.

Video footage from neighbors showed the the fire starting in the area of the resident’s garbage cans, but the actual cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to GFFR.

While crews were on Carmel Drive, the GFFR battalion chief requested assistance from the Malmstrom and Montana Air National Guard fire departments, as well as three off-duty GFFR firefighters to come back to work.

About 45 minutes after the Carmel Drive fire was dispatched, GFFR was dispatched to a fire at 2208 23 St. S. in an apartment.

The apartment residents came home from grocery shopping, placing their groceries on top of the stove, without realizing that the stove had been left on, the bags caught fire and extended to the cabinets.

The residents were able to extinguish the fire and call 911. Since GFFR crews were occupied at Carmel Drive, so a Malmstrom fire crew was sent to investigate the apartment fire.

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Once the first fire was under control, a GFFR engine company cleared Carmel Drive and went to assist the Malmstrom crew at the apartment, where they pulled the damaged cabinets to verify that the fire hadn’t extended to the walls or kitchen hood vent.

The occupants were unharmed and placed in a hotel, according to GFFR.

On March 25, at 3:26 a.m., GFFR was dispatched to 741 32nd N.E. and when the first crew arrived on scene they found smoke showing from the front of the house and two occupant outside.

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The third occupant was still in the basement looking for pet cats and firefighters advised him to get out of the house and he complied, crawling out of a basement egress window, according to GFFR.

An engine crew entered the home through the front door, finding fire in the living room and quickly got that fire under control. Another engine crew arrived and took a second hose line to the basement to ensure the fire didn’t spread to the basement.

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The battalion chief struck a second alarm, calling back six off duty firefighters and another battalion chief, as well as requested mutual aid from Malmstrom and the Guard to backfill city stations.

Once the fire was under control, GFFR learned that the occupants were a father, his son and his girlfriend.

The father told firefighters that he woke up because he smelled smoke, sat up in bed and inhaled smoke, so he crawled out of bed to close his bedroom door, then climbed out his window.

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The son and his girlfriend were in the basement when they heard the smoke detectors. The son went upstairs and felt the door to the kitchen, which he saw was cool, but was met by smoke when he opened it. He closed the door and he and his girlfriend exited through a basement egress window, according to GFFR.

The father was taken to the hospital to be evaluated for smoke inhalation and three of the family’s four cats had been found the day of the fire, but they were still looking for the fourth cat.

The fire caused extensive damage the living room and there was heavy smoke damage to the upstairs portion of the house. The basement had minor smoke damage, according to GFFR.

The fire was determined to have started in the living room by a malfunction of a video gaming controller and charging station.

The residents were referred to the American Red Cross for any needed assistance, according to GFFR.