Jul 16, 2026
Hazardous air quality settled over Milwaukee Thursday, forcing residents, workers and even zoo animals to adapt or push through.Dave Sluss, owner of Dave's Dawgs, set up his cart near 92nd and Howard despite the conditions. Wit h sales already down earlier in the week, he said he had little choice.RELATED| LIVE BLOG: Whats canceled, postponed and available resources as wildfire smoke impacts WisconsinI haven't been out all week because of the heat, and now it's cooling down a little bit. But the smoke, but I think I'll take the smoke over the heat, Sluss said. To limit his customers' exposure, Sluss worked to get orders out in 30 seconds or less.It is just definitely something we're not used to, Sluss said.Watch: Milwaukee hazardous air: how some workers are adapting and pushing through Milwaukee hazardous air: how some workers are adapting and pushing throughAt Draft Co. in downtown Milwaukee, staff were also adjusting to the smoky conditions. What would normally be a busy summer patio sat nearly empty Thursday as customers moved indoors.We knew the patio wasnt gonna be busy, said Nathaniel Davauer with Draft Co. Would we ask our staff to stand outside in that? No, we wouldnt. Davauer said the air quality impacted business before many customers even left their homes.I think people arent leaving the house today, Devour said. If they were going to meet someone out for beers on the patio, they canceled that before they even showed up. At the Milwaukee County Zoo, staff monitored more than 2,300 animals as air quality deteriorated. Tracey Dolphin, director of animal management, said some species were moved indoors as a precaution. We do see that some species are more susceptible to it, like our primates are. Some of our birds are as well. So our flamingos are inside as well, Dolphin said.Other animals including hippos, gazelles and penguins stayed in their outdoor habitats. Dolphin said moving them would have caused more harm than good.If we would pull them off habitat, it would cause a little bit more stress for them, so we don't want to do any harm, additional harm. So they will stay where they're at, and we will continue to monitor them, Dolphin said.The zoo canceled several outdoor experiences and kept a close eye on animals, staff and guests throughout the day.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.Its about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for TMJ4 on your device.Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip ...read more read less
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