As families in Great Falls closed up their Thanksgiving celebrations, first responders dealt with a busy—and occasionally dangerous—holiday weekend. According to Great Falls Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Mike McIntosh, the holiday weekend led to an increase in emergency calls, ranging from fires to weather-related injuries.
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“In that time frame, we had two major working fires. There were some shootings that occurred on Thanksgiving Day… and then just lots of trips and falls and people slipping and sliding with the weather conditions that are outside,” he stated.
Between Thanksgiving morning and Sunday, GFFR answered more than 68 calls. Two notable incidents were a home fire in Black Eagle on Monday, December 1, and a fire in a vacant trailer in Great Falls on November 29.
There were no serious injuries reported in either incident.
McIntosh reports that call volume around the holidays is unpredictable.
“It's hard to really quantify the calls from year to year… it seems like it was a little bit busier than most. But it just depends.”
Cold weather could have contributed to the trailer fire.
"The owner of the property is trying to keep it boarded up, but homeless people are finding their ways in and out of the trailer," McIntosh told me. "Most likely, the cause of that fire was from people getting in there and trying to keep themselves warm because the temperatures had dropped."
While the official cause is still being investigated, firefighters believe the incident highlights the dangers associated with colder weather. Residents are encouraged to use heating sources cautiously, check smoke detectors, and exercise caution on icy sidewalks and roadways.
