Rescue Mission on ‘fire watch’ until new home can be found

Montana Standard (Butte)

Feb. 08--The Butte Rescue Mission has been on "fire watch" protocol since firefighters recently found numerous safety violations that will ultimately shut it down as a homeless shelter.

Meanwhile, mission officials say they get overwhelming community support and can afford utilities and other expenses if they move operations to a now-vacant Uptown building at Quartz and Main streets.

"It is not something we are just stepping into blindly," Rocky Lyons, the mission's executive director, said Wednesday. "We are good stewards of the money given to us by our supporters."

Two commissioners who represent Uptown have cited numerous concerns about the mission moving to the former Homeward Bound building at 304 N. Main St., just across the street from the Butte-Silver Bow Archives.

Mission officials have offered $100,000 to buy the building from the nonprofit social services agency Action Inc., but the organization says it wants public forums held about the possible move before agreeing to any sale.

In the meantime, fire officials did not want to force homeless people into the streets, especially in the winter.

But it is not physically or economically possible to make the building at 1204 E. 2nd St. -- originally a single-family house -- safe for numerous people so it cannot continue as a homeless shelter much longer, Butte-Silver Bow Fire Chief Jeff Miller said Wednesday.

But some small safety improvements have been taken since the building was inspected on Jan. 5, he and Fire Marshal Brian Doherty said, and precautionary protocols must be followed now.

"Our biggest thing in the interim while they're trying to relocate is that someone is awake at all times down there so if there is a fire they can notify people and get them out," Miller said.

The mission often has 35 to 40 occupants at night and feeds about 100 people a day, but Doherty said many the building's smoke alarms were missing or without batteries and there were no carbon-monoxide detectors.

The same protocols have been ordered for the mission that are required when fire-alarm or sprinkler systems are down in other buildings with a lot of people, Doherty said.

Among other things, someone must be on the lookout for hazards such as blocked escape routes and make periodic announcements on where to go in case of fire.

Lyons said smoke alarms in every room are working now, carbon-monoxide detectors have been installed and someone monitors the dorms at night and checks the building for fire hazards every hour.

Mission officials have pledged to hold a public meeting to explain their operations and address any concerns about relocating to the Uptown building. A time and date are pending.

Commissioner Cindi Shaw wonders if the mission can afford expenses at the former Homeward Bound building, which provided transitional housing for homeless people before Action Inc. left it in early 2015 because of changes in federal funding priorities.

Action Inc. still owns the empty building and keeps the heat on during the winter -- usually around 45 degrees -- to ensure that a sprinkler system works in case of fire, said Margie Seccomb, its executive director.

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It costs about $1,700 per month to keep the heat on at that level, she said, and it would be about $3,000 per month to keep it at comfortable levels in the winter if occupied. The building is about 20,000 square feet but has only one boiler, so there is no way to heat selected floors or rooms.

Action Inc. pays about $8,000 a year for insurance on the building and $6,000 a year for "special improvement district" services provided by the county, she said.

All in all, it costs about $30,000 a year just to keep vacant, she said. When transitional housing was provided there, it cost about $285,000 a year, but that included 24-hour staffing.

Expenses for the mission might differ, Seccomb said, but "those are the kinds of questions that need to be answered" before any move is made.

Lyons said she and others have been considering relocation and associated costs for months. The mission would sell its current building and one across the street, but it already meets considerable expenses, she said.

"We are paying $10,600 a year for insurance now and I'm going to get an insurance break (by moving)," she said. "People think we don't pay any bills here or we don't have an extensive budget, but we do pay our bills, we do have insurance, we do upkeep on the building."

The mission gets great backing from people and businesses in Butte-Silver Bow and six other counties its serves in southwest Montana, she said, and can afford the other building.

"We get overwhelming support from local churches, from Christians, from people whose hearts line up with our mission," she said. "We have businesses (that give) and we also get support from foundations and trusts."

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