No 'Vikings' at this year's Montana State Fair

People from all over Montana come to Great Falls each year for the Montana State Fair, and often have one specific thing that they want to see while they're here. For a lot of people, that's the iconic Viking.

For those who have never heard of it - a Viking is essentially a big meatball that has been dipped in batter and deep-fried, and then served on a stick.

The Sons of Norway Lodsen Lodge posted on Facebook earlier this month that they will not be at the Montana State Fair this year.

This is due to new regulations requiring an automatic fire suppression system that they were not able to have installed and inspected in time.

The fire suppression system was made a requirement for Montana in May of this year, with the intent to keep fairgoers, staff, and vendors safe.

• Video: tourists flee - Yellowstone explosion
• WHY? Bear carcass with no head and no paws
• The Ivy nursing home in Great Falls is closing
• Who is performing at Montana State Fair?

Due to the new regulations this year, the Viking booth will not be present at the Montana State Fair.

“It's known as the Sons of Norway Viking booth, where we do our famous Vikings,” said Shannon Wilson, the food service manager for the Viking booth. “A lot of people have told me they come to the fair just for Vikings, so we were pretty distressed that we couldn’t get the fire suppression equipment that we needed to be able to, it was required as of May of this year, and all of the vendors are just overloaded with requests, so we couldn’t do this year, but we’ll definitely be back next year.”

While a majority of their funding comes from the proceeds made at their booth each year at the fair, they are not concerned from a financial standpoint and will continue business as usual, including their regular donations to non-profits and youth groups.

“It’s important to continue the Viking booth that does a lot for our organization. We raise funds to support nonprofits around town; we also support youth groups,” Wilson added.

Annual fairgoers took to Facebook with their sadness for having to miss out on the Sons of Norway’s famous Vikings this year, but they have continued to show support for the organization and are looking forward to next year’s state fair.

Sons Of Norway

“We are discussing [potentially] having Vikings as part of our December bake sale, so stay tuned, watch our Facebook page , and especially, you know, visit often because we have a lot of activities going on and we invite the community to join us,” said Wilson.

(UPDATE) In response to some comments on Facebook regarding the mandated fire supression system, Great Falls Mayor Cory Reeves shared the following information:

Until this past legislative session, the State of Montana and the City of Great Falls were under the 2012 edition of the International Fire Code (IFC). When the 2018 edition of the IFC came out, it was the first time that the fire code included requirements for mobile food vendors. The mobile food requirements in the 2018 IFC required a fire suppression system for mobile food vendors (Trucks, Trailers, etc.). When the 2018 IFC came out, the State of Montana was in a lawsuit with Central Valley Fire District (Belgrade) over requirements within the fire code that the State Building Department purposely omitted in assembly occupancies in the Gallatin Valley. During this time, the State adopted the 2018 edition of the International Building Code(IBC); however, with the lawsuit over the fire code, the State and, therefore, the City of Great Falls had to continue to enforce the 2012 IFC.

Knowing the new requirements that were in the 2018 IFC, Dirk Johnson, who was GFFR’s Fire Marshal at the time and who now is the State Fire Marshal, Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Martin, who now is a Deputy Fire Marshal for the State, and myself began telling all mobile food vendors and concession stands at the State Fair that these requirements were coming. With that, they should plan to have these suppression systems installed for their cooking operations. Dick Swingley, the State Fire Marshal at the time, stated that whenever the new edition of the IFC was adopted, he would give a grace period of a few months for vendors to meet the requirements of the new code.

Since 2018, the Fire Prevention Bureau (FPB) has been reminding all food vendors of the requirements for a suppression system for mobile food vendors. Along with that, we have been reminding all concession stands of this requirement as well. A concession stand, such as the Viking booth at the fair, should be treated as a commercial kitchen and, therefore, have a suppression system. At the state level, as fire marshals, we jointly agreed that when the new fire code was adopted, concession stands would also have to meet the same requirements as mobile food vendors because they should have been all along.

In 2023, the lawsuit regarding the fire code was settled, and the State of Montana lost. With the lawsuit being settled, the 2021 IFC was adopted by the State Legislature along with the 2021 IBC. With the adoption of the 2021 IFC, the State Fire Marshal set a deadline of May 1, 2024, to comply with having suppression systems in mobile food vending units and concession stands. Being proactive, I obtained a list from the City-County Health Department of all mobile food vendors. With this, I sent an email containing the new fire code requirements and the compliance deadline. I also sent those requirements to the State Fair so that they could inform all their vendors of the new requirements. These requirements were also placed on our website and social media links. I also shared the documentation I put together with all the other fire marshals from around the State. Many of these fire marshals have adopted the language I have put together. Also, as fire marshals, we meet monthly and are all enforcing the new code requirements in the same manner. We want to ensure that we are consistent across the State.

As I mentioned, we were trying to be proactive and give these vendors ample time to prepare for the new fire code requirements. Even with being proactive, the majority of food vendors waited until the last minute to try and find suppression systems. With that, many of the companies that install suppression systems are overwhelmed. Regarding the Viking stand, they came and met with me. I provided them with many different options. Given the cost of the suppression system and the backlog for installation, members of the Vikings told me they would not be able to have the suppression system installed in time for the fair.

Long story short, we have been working with these vendors to meet the code requirements. In closing, I want to point out that when the 2018 edition of the IFC came out, it was adopted across the country. With the lawsuit at the State level, Montana was one of the only places in the county that did not start enforcing these code requirements. So please know, this is not a Great Falls thing; this is not a State of Montana thing, but a national requirement.