A cloud of toxic smoke from two pounds of methamphetamine seized by the FBI and incinerated inside the nonprofit Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Montana sent fourteen volunteers to the hospital. The smoke started to fill the building during a drug burn apparently because of negative pressure that sucked the fumes back inside. A fan was supposed to be on hand in such situations to reverse the pressure so smoke would flow out of the building, but it wasn't readily available. The shelter's 75 dogs and cats were relocated or put into foster homes. Most of the staff spent several hours in an oxygen chamber for treatment and symptoms lingered for other workers. Four litters of poor kittens caged in a closed room were more heavily exposed to the toxic fumes and are being closely monitored.
The incinerator is used primarily to burn carcasses of euthanized animals. Every couple of months local law enforcement or FBI agents use it to burn seized narcotics. Locals were surprised that the FBI or other agencies burn seized drugs within city limits in a state as large as Montana with all of its open space. After Kashyap Pramod Patel further guts the FBI of experienced agents and lowers educational standards while slashing FBI training at the academy, Americans should expect a future torrent of screw ups from the premier law-enforcement agent in the US.
