RHINELANDER (WJFW) — Eric Borchardt started Pirate Falls Mini Golf in Rhinelander in 2018. He’s familiar with slower business seasons with COVID-19 in 2020 and longer Wisconsin winters.
But the recent air quality problems in the Northwoods area from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota has meant fewer golfers.
“Since the smoke has come in yesterday we had one of the slowest days of the season, and as of right now, today is kind of shaping up to be the same,” Borchardt said.
But Borchardt can’t blame customers. Air quality levels are at some of the worst the state has seen, according to WJFW Chief Meteorologist, Geoff Weller.
Weller said: “This wild, because it’s wild and it’s dangerous, because the average chart for air quality goes to 500. We’re getting reports now of 600-1,000, so this air quality is bad, it’s dangerous for COPD, for asthma, for all those things.”
With the wildfires still not controlled and little rain forecasted, Weller says the air could stay in the 600+ range on the air quality index well into August.
“I think the smoke is so concentrated, there’s so much acreage burning right now, the long range outlook kind of shows drier and windier conditions,” Weller said. “So, if that’s the case we’re gonna keep burning the forest and thus we’re downstream with the Northwest wind to Wisconsin we get that smoke here in Rhinelander.”
For Borchardt, all he can do is hope for a shift in winds.
“If the smoke is as thick as it is currently, it’s definitely going to put in quite a few bad numbers for us especially for the whole year,” he said. “But what can you do? It’s a lot of health hazards that people are dealing with.”
Borchardt says ,despite the much slower business since the smoke came into the Northwoods area, this year has been his best year business-wise since he started Pirate Falls in 2018.