Fire at Michigan paper mill closes roads, residents told to shelter in place while air monitored

Residents near a northern Michigan paper mill that caught fire Wednesday, prompting the closure of several roads and a lock and dam on a nearby river, have been told to shelter in place until Thursday afternoon as environmental officials continue monitoring local air quality. Plumes of thick and heavy black and gray smoke visible for miles around billowed from the Tissue Depot property along M-27 in downtown Cheboygan, about 290 miles (466 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, after the fire began about 11 a.m. Wednesday. Officials said fire crews had contained the fire to a storage building at the mill as of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, but asked people to avoid the area as crews continue battling the fire.