LAFAYETTE, Ga. – The day after a fire ravaged the former Barwick Mills plant in the heart of downtown LaFayette, efforts turned from fighting flames to finding out what the environmental toll of the blaze could be.
That picture remained partly hazy Sunday night, just like the sky over LaFayette, where smoke continued to billow from the more than 50,000-square-foot building that caught fire Saturday afternoon.
Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Atlanta office spent Sunday testing the air and water and recommended to city officials early Sunday evening that people who live near the old mill be told to stay indoors Sunday night.
LaFayette officials acted on the recommendation, using the city’s reverse 911 system to call those living near the mill.
The stance was precautionary – mainly out of concern for people with respiratory issues – but it represented a change from just hours before, when officials said preliminary reports showed the air quality was fine.