Smoke from deadly N. Calif. wildfires fills High Desert skies
(Update: Bend’s air quality improves, Prineville’s worsens)
Smoke similar to August’s murky levels returned in force to the High Desert on Tuesday, and officials said it was not from any local blazes, but instead blowing north from the destructive, deadly wildfires in Northern California.
Winds blowing to 25 mph or greater from the south-southwest were turning the skies gray, much as was seen across Central Oregon for weeks in August.
Bend Fire Battalion Chief Dave Howe said the U.S. Forest Service confirmed the smoke was coming from the Northern California wildfires, which have killed more than a dozen people and destroyed at thousands of homes and businesses.
Howe said the National Weather Service indicated the strong southwest wind flow would continue into Wednesday evening, meaning the smoke will linger.
“Please do not call the fire department of 911 regarding this smoke unless you see a column of smoke or flames,” Howe said in a news release. “There is nothing we can do about the smoke in the air from fires outside of our area.”
The Oregon DEQ’s Air Quality Index shows the smoke pollution had risen to “moderate” levels across the region. See the latest at http://www.deq.state.or.us/aqi/
But another site that compiles state and federal air quality data — http://aqicn.org/city/usa/oregon/bend/ — listed Bend as being at “unhealthy” pollution levels.
By late Tuesday afternoon, Bend’s air quality was back to the good category, and the sun broke through the smoke, but Prineville remained at an unhealthy level. Sisters and Madras remained at good air-quality levels.
The Ochoco National Forest canceled a prescribed burn along Hwy. 26 east of Prineville due to those forecast winds Tuesday morning. Forest spokesman Patrick Lair said the air quality was worsening in the afternoon.
BLM spokeswoman Lisa Clark said dispatchers also indicated some of the smoke could come from lingering Oregon wildfires west of the Cascades, and some controlled burns also were under way in the area, though most of the smoke is from out of the area.
Two other prescribed burns were underway Tuesday on the Deschutes National Forest, one on the Crescent Ranger District west of Highway 97 and east of the Cascade Lakes Highway, and another near Indian Ford Campground on the Sisters Ranger District.
However, officials said the smoke being seen across the region is from the California fires.
How long could the smoke linger? NewsChannel 21’s Emily Kirk will have your Local Alert Weather forecast on KTVZ at 5, 6 and 7.
