Door County Emergency Management and Communications was being especially cautious over your safety this weekend after a fire destroyed a paper mill in Menominee, Mich. last week. Firefighters are still tending to the fire at Resolute Forest Products that started on October 6th, asking some communities to shelter in place until the fire could get under control. Door County’s additional concerns about the blaze began on Friday as the wind started to change directions, potentially sending smoke and soot from the fire across the bay to the area. With thousands of people flocking to Egg Harbor for the Pumpkin Patch Festival, Door County Emergency Management and Communications began discussing options with the Environment Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control, and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The department issued a warning Friday night.
Even though they later determined that there would be no significant danger to the area because of the fire, Emergency Management and Communications Director Dan Kane says the air quality tests performed were done out of extra caution.
Kane is still expecting the test results to come back from a lab in Chicago soon. This is the first time Door County has done air quality testing during Kane’s tenure due to a large area fire. Large fires in Canada brought smoke and hazy conditions to the state last year.
