Downtown Cheboygan shuts down as multiple departments battle fire at Tissue Depot storage facility

CHEBOYGAN —A massive fire broke out late Wednesday morning at a Tissue Depot storage facility on Main Street in Cheboygan.

According to a press release from the Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Department, the fire was first reported at 11:08 a.m. When firefighters and police officers arrived on scene, the building was producing heavy black smoke hundreds of feet in the air.

Photos taken by bystanders show plumes of dark smoke emanating from the fire that were visible for miles.

According to Cheboygan Fire Chief Don Dailey, the fire started in a part of the mill where no employees were working at the time. Dailey said there were no injuries to any employees or to firefighters on the scene.

Fire crews from eight fire departments, along with the Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Department, Cheboygan City Police Department and the Michigan State Police, responded to the scene.

"That's what we do, we help each other out," said Dailey.

According to the release, crews were alerted that there was several tons of plastic stored in the building.

"They had a bunch of coal ash stored in the center of the building and poly (recycled plastics) from their paper-making process," Daily said. "We are speculating that maybe a halogen lightbulb broke in the ceiling and (started) the poly on fire. No one was working in there, so that's why it went unnoticed until smoke started coming out of the building."

The area was cordoned off, and multiple downtown streets were closed.

Emergency Management has been in contact with EGLE, the EPA, the Coast Guard, the State of Michigan Region Seven Michigan Emergency Management, Michigan State Police Fire Marshal, and the ATF Fire Investigations, all of which are responding.

A shelter in place alert was put out for anyone within a one mile radius due to the smoke in the air. The EPA and EGLE will be doing air quality checks and monitoring the river system, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard.

“The EPA is en route to the scene right now to set up a 24-hour air monitoring. We will be able to provide additional information once the results are in,” said Jeremy Runstrom of the Cheboygan County Office of Emergency Management. “Right now, a shelter is in place from a mile radius of the scene, and I’m asking the public to stay sheltered in place and close the windows, just for their safety.”   

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has temporarily closed the Cheboygan Lock and Dam due to the fire. An announcement will be made when the lock reopens to the public. At this time, there is no known estimated timeframe for reopening.

Many buildings and businesses in the area have closed while the fire is ongoing. Cheboygan Area Schools released students slightly early on Wednesday to account for the added time needed for buses to be re-routed away from the closed streets.

As of 4:45 p.m., officials said the fire is contained to the storage building. Incident Command is asking all residents to avoid the area as emergency crews are still battling the fire and resources are coming in.

Dailey said there wasn't enough left of the damaged structure to "determine an actual cause because the roof collapsed about 10 minutes after we got here."

"We are tearing it down as we put the fire out, so we probably aren't going to be able to determine an official cause," he said.

The investigation will be ongoing.

Tissue Depot, a subsidiary of Patriot Advanced Environmental Technologies, acquired the Great Lakes Tissue paper mill in January from an ownership group led by Kip Boie, which purchased the facility in 2022. Patriot renamed the mill Tissue Depot.

A spokeswoman for Tissue Depot told the Daily Tribune in April that the mill was operating with about 40 employees. At one time — when the mill was owned by the Procter & Gamble Co. — employment at the facility totaled about 300. Procter & Gamble sold the plant in 1989 to the Mosinee Paper Corp. of Wisconsin.