Christmas weekend 2023 fires

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: December 26, 2023
CONTACT: Great Falls Fire Rescue 406-727-8070

GREAT FALLS FIRE RESCUE FIRE INFORMATION RELEASE

Great Falls, MT – Over the Christmas weekend, GFFR responded to a series of
dumpster/debris fires and grass/brush fires in the downtown area. On the night of
December 23, 2023, at 7:50 pm GFFR responded to a grass/brush fire that was near the
railroad tracks behind the Children’s Museum. When Engine 1 arrived on scene, they
found a small fire that was five foot by five foot. Engine 1 quickly extinguished the fire. The
fire caused minor damage to a tree and fence.

At the same time as Engine 1 was addressing the fire behind the Children’s Museum,
GFFR was dispatched to another fire that had occurred behind Tracy’s restaurant. E2
arrived on scene to find a new restaurant cooler on a pallet had been burned. The cooler on
the pallet was protected by cardboard, which someone attempted to burn. There was no
damage done to the cooler. While investigating the fire GFFR found, that an individual had
intentionally placed a propane tank next to the pallet as it burned. GFPD and GFFR were
able to watch surveillance footage of the alley, where a male was seen coming and going
multiple times during the time of the fire.

Last night at 8:01 pm, Engine 3 responded to a fire in a dumpster fire behind Times
Square. Engine 3 was able to keep the fire contained to the dumpster. Two hours after the
fire occurred in the dumpster, GFFR was dispatched to a grass fire on the Rivers Edge
Trail near the tennis courts. GFPD was on scene and directed Engine 1 to the fire, which
had burned a five foot by thirty-foot section of vegetation along the trail. The crew from
Engine 1 utilized GFFR’s Brush truck to access the trail and extinguish the fire.
In the case of all of these fires, an ignition source could not be found, and the cause of the
fires remain under investigation by GFFR and GFPD.
###