Update: According to Great Falls Fire Marshall Doug Bennyhoff the fire was an accident. It ignited when a product of flax seeds known as lin-meal spontaneously combusted. Linmeal is typically used as animal feed. Damages from the blaze are estimated at $1.75. Most of the product was saved however except for some canola seeds damaged by water used to put out the flames.

Parts of the Montana Specialty Mill are a total loss after a two-alarm fire early this morning (Monday, May 5th). Units from all over the city raced to the scene at about 12:30 A.M. According the Great Falls Fire Chief Randall McCamley, “The first fire trucks on the scene reported heavy fire...we made it inside but the fire involvement was almost completely through the inside of the complex. These buildings can collapse.” Since they fire was so intense, the fire ground commander ordered everyone out of the building to fight the blaze from the outside. The roof did collapse after everyone was out, but that wasn’t the only danger.
McCamley told us, “This fire was dangerous, not just because of the fire itself…nearly touching the building that was on fire were storage tanks that contained dried mill…grain dust and powder is highly combustible…on the other side there were several large vegetable oil tanks…overhead there were power lines we had to contend with as we fought the fire.” There were several small explosions as the fire burned through the night. The 30 firefighters had it contained by 5 A.M., it it was still smoldering at this afternoon. “I’d say it’s probably in the top 10 of the 25 years I’ve been on the department just because of the complexity" McCamley added. Damages could be in the millions. The owners of the building live in Utah and are making their way to Great Falls. It’s not known if they have insurance, but what we do know is that several people are now out of a job. McCamley also said, “This business has been around for many years. It Employs up to 15 people. Hope they’ll be able to rebuild and get back up to production.” The production area was destroyed. Several cars, company records and even a computer were saved. Fire crews spent all day today and will likely spend all day tomorrow making sure there are no flare-ups. They’re also investigating the cause of the fire, which is unknown at this time.