Oregon Smoke Information

Oregon's Air Quality Index showed good air quality much of summer 2019. After two record-breaking seasons, Oregon saw a much-needed reprieve from wildfire smoke this summer. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued only one air quality advisory this year due to wildfire smoke. The advisory was for the area downwind of the Milepost 97 Fire in southwest Oregon, and lasted only a week. By contrast: in both 2017 and 2018, wildfire smoke inundated Oregon communities off and on for months. DEQ issued and reissued air quality advisories for much of the state throughout the summer. Smoke flowed into communities from fires burning across the Pacific Northwest, California and British Columbia. Southern and Central Oregon were the hardest hit parts of the state, but the Portland area also experienced smoke like never before. At one point in August 2018, all but two Oregon counties were under an air quality advisory due to unhealthy levels of wildfire smoke. But this ...

Cool, rainy weather across much of the state has allowed the first controlled burns to be lit in parts of Oregon. New rules governing smoke may allow more of these burns than in the past. Oregon Department of Forestry officials believe increasing the amount of burning will help landowners reduce the public safety risk from the buildup of fuels in forests, and improve forest health. Known as prescribed fires, these regulated burns are lit when weather conditions will minimize smoke getting into smoke-sensitive receptor areas (SSRAs) and Class I wilderness areas, such as Crater Lake National Park. According to ODF records, out of 2,964 units burned in 2018 only 18 – about half of one percent – resulted in smoke entering an SSRA. Although forest landowners with permits may be burning in certain areas, the public should know that fire season may still be in effect where they live or camp, so check first before lighting backyard debris piles or making a campfire. "The prescribed bu...

The Canyon 66 Prescribed Fire in the Ochoco National Forest caused some fluctuating moderate to unhealthy levels of smoke in Prineville this week. Find local health recommendations from Crook County Health Department . Find more information about the prescribed burn from Central Oregon Fire . Smoke levels can fluctuate rapidly, check current conditions on  DEQ’s Air Quality Index  or by downloading the free Oregon Air app on your smartphone.  DEQ Air Quality Index reading from Sept. 6, 2019, 12:06 p.m.