Patience Marie Lamere has been charged in Great Falls with 10 counts of felony criminal endangerment.
According to court documents, Lamere arrived home drunk at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday (July 24), began cooking something on the stove, and then passed out.
At about 7:30 a.m., police were called to the apartment building at 617 4th Avenue NW when neighbors began reporting smoke coming from her apartment.
A responding police officer knocked on Lamere’s door, but no one answered. The door was not locked, so the officer went inside and saw Lamere passed out. He woke her up and took her outside.
Nine other tenants of the building had to be evacuated from the building due to the smoke and potential for a fire, including four children.
Officers questioned Lamere, and she admitted that she had been drinking heavily, and did not recall what she had been trying to cook on the stove before passing out.
Inside her apartment, an officer saw a small frying pan that was completely burned; the officer could not determine what the food was inside the pan because it was so badly burned.
Court documents state: "The smell of smoke mixed with the food, made it almost unbearable to breathe. The entire apartment building was hazy and smelled of smoke although there was open windows and fans provided by GFFR (Great Falls Fire Rescue) to clear it out."
The police officer that took Lamere out of the apartment had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Lamere has been charged with one count of felony criminal endangerment for each of the nine people that had to evacuate the building, and an additional count for the officer who required medical treatment.
According to court documents, a neighbor said Lamere had done something similar about six months ago.
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