Do not microwave your PPE!

WHITE COUNTY, Ga. — On Tuesday afternoon around 1 p.m., White County fire units with automatic aid from City of Cleveland, City of Helen, and Lee Arrendale Fire Brigade 1,  responded to a reported camper fire in the Mountain Lakes Resort north of Cleveland.

On scene, firefighters found that there was no visible smoke in or around the camper.

The owner stated that there was an odor of paper burning and thought it may have been a brush fire.  They went inside the camper to check and found that it was full of smoke.  As firefighter 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.

There were no injuries reported and firefighters removed the mask from the property.

Please be careful when attempting to sanitizing masks and other PPE equipment.  Check CDC websites for proper sanitizing techniques.