A massive fire that broke out at the Eagle Point Energy Center Tuesday night is still sending smoke into the air in Orrington and its surrounding communities.

While residents wait for word from the EPA as to what other issues they may be facing, aside from exposure to the smoke, area schools have been taking extra precautions to limit students and staff from the fallout of the fire.

Read More: Massive Fire Overnight at Orrington Energy Plant

The Superintendent's office in Orrington (AOS #47) directed schools to close their windows and stop running their AC units Wednesday until further notice. They also canceled their after-school activities for the day. We're told they were waiting for more information to make a call on limiting Thursday's schedule. They had also stopped any outdoor recess for students.

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We're told schools in Brewer and Bangor are following suit and have been advised by school leadership not to run AC units for the next few days.

Superintendent of Schools for the Bangor School Department, Marie Robinson, sent this notice to parents Thursday morning:

"We have shut down the external air handling units in all of our schools, which means that for today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday), we will circulate the internal air. We have done this as a precaution for all schools, as the smoke from the fire was present in areas of the city early this morning.

We will continue to monitor smoke levels in the city. As a precaution, we will hold indoor recess and physical education classes. If you feel your child should stay home due to this situation, please call your school principal, and your student will be excused for the day."

As a parent, I appreciate that the school administrators are in a tricky position when it comes to deciding to only circulate inside air, especially at a time when the back-to-school virus season is in full swing, and a lot of staff and students dealing with respiratory illnesses. (RSU 13 had to close for a day earlier in the week due to a staffing shortage because of it).

The Environmental Protection Agency has been on the scene in Orrington since early this week. They released an Air Quality Alert due to ground-level particle pollution concentrations expected to reach the 'Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups' (USG) level in the Eastern Interior and Mid-Coast Regions through Friday.

Bluenose Fire February 10

Fire struck the Annex behind the Bluenose Inn in Bar Harbor on Thursday afternoon February 10th. Firefighters from all over Hancock County responded with firefighters from Penobscot and Waldo Counties coming down to backfill the stations of those companies responding

Gallery Credit: Chris Popper