India, Sept. 14 -- A routine FBI drug disposal went dangerously wrong in Billings, Montana, after smoke from burning methamphetamine filled an animal shelter and sickened staff.

Fourteen employees of the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter were hospitalized Wednesday when fumes from an incinerator shared with the city's animal control division seeped into the building, reported CBS News. The incinerator, typically used to cremate euthanized animals, is also occasionally utilized by law enforcement agencies to destroy seized narcotics.

According to city officials, two pounds of methamphetamine were being incinerated when negative air pressure pulled the smoke indoors. Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland said a fan meant to reverse t...