Fire at paper mill property in northern Michigan closes roads, prompts warning to avoid area

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (AP) — A fire at a northern Michigan paper mill has closed several roads and prompted city officials to tell residents to shelter in place, while state police warned people to stay away from the area. Plumes of thick and heavy black and gray smoke billowed Wednesday from the Tissue Depot property along M-27 in downtown Cheboygan, about 290 miles northwest of Detroit. Cheboygan Fire Chief Don Dailey said the fire started in a part of the mill where no employees were working at the time. The nearby Cheboygan Lock and Dam was temporarily closed. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy spokesman Jeff Johnston says staff were sent to Cheboygan Wednesday afternoon “to help assess the situation.”