Firefighters from four agencies responded Tuesday afternoon to a reported camper fire at Mountain Lakes Resort north of Cleveland.
On scene, firefighters found that there was no visible smoke in or around the camper, said White County Public Safety Director David Murphy.
“The owner stated that there was an odor of paper burning and thought it may have been a brush fire,” Murphy said, “They went inside the camper to check and found that it was full of smoke. As firefighters investigated, one looked inside the microwave and found what appeared to be a ‘mask’. The owner confirmed that they did put a mask in the microwave to sanitize it (forgot they did so) but did not realize it would catch fire.”
White County fire units, with automatic aid from Cleveland Fire Department, Helen Fire Department, and Lee Arrendale State Prison Fire Department, responded to the fire about 1 p.m. No injuries were reported.
“Please be careful when attempting to sanitizing masks and other PPE equipment,” Murphy said. “Check CDC websites for proper sanitizing techniques.”
