Rims Closed for Fourth of July

Q2 reports Billings Fire Chief Bill Rash says the department plans to close public areas along the Rims again this year for the Fourth of July. After years of closing the Rims for the holiday, the Billings Fire Department opened the Rims last year again, just as an experiment. Rash said he was patrolling the area with former Chief Paul Dextras, when they observed concerning behavior, causing them to keep the Rims closed in 2018. Rash said [quote] “Nothing catastrophic happened, but we did have a few instances where things could have developed into a pretty severe situation… We decided [to close the Rims] in the best interest of the public safety, which is our number one thing.” [end quote] Chief Rash said their main concern is the ability to fight a fire, due to the difficult terrain.