Workers taken to hospital after FBI burns seized meth

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Fourteen staff members at an animal shelter have been taken to hospital after the FBI used an incinerator at the facility to burn two pounds of seized methamphetamine. Staff and some 75 cats and dogs were evacuated from the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings, Montana, when the building filled with smoke. The incinerator is usually used by animal control officers to dispose of euthanised animals, but local authorities said it can also be used by law enforcement to burn seized narcotics. The cats and dogs have been relocated, and the animals which experienced the most smoke exposure are now under supervision. The incident was caused when smoke was pushed in the wrong direction because of negative pressure, according to Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland. Shelter executive director Triniti Halverson said she was unaware that a drug burn was happening. "I can firmly and confidently say that, as the Executive Director, I did not know that they were disposing of extremely dangerous narcotics onsite," she wrote in a statement.


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