Brookings,
Ore.—An air quality advisory will remain in place for Curry and Klamath
counties until further notice, but the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality is ending an advisory for Josephine, Jackson and Lake counties.
The Oregon Smoke Blog has an air quality map that includes temporary monitors close to specific fires, including those in Brookings, Gold Beach and Agness. On Monday morning, an air quality monitor in Brookings was in the unhealthy for sensitive groups category, while the other two monitors were both showing good air quality.
People can take the following precautions:
- Be aware of smoke concentrations in your area and avoid the places with highest concentrations.
- Avoid strenuous outdoor activity in smoky conditions.
- If you have heart disease, asthma or other respiratory ailments, or are over 65, you have a higher risk of illness from wildfire smoke.
- Small children and pregnant women are also at increased risk. These residents are encouraged to stay indoors.
- People suffering from asthma or other respiratory problems should follow
their breathing management plans or contact their healthcare providers.
The color-coded Air Quality Index ranks air quality as follows: Green is good. Yellow is moderate, which is unhealthy for extremely sensitive groups. Orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups such as children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with respiratory conditions. Red is unhealthy for everyone. Purple is very unhealthy for all groups. Maroon is hazardous.
While
air quality through much of Southern Oregon was good Monday morning, wildfire smoke
is expected to impact both counties especially Brookings and Klamath Falls. Residents
are reminded that local smoke levels can rise and fall rapidly.
The Oregon Smoke Blog has an air quality map that includes temporary monitors close to specific fires, including those in Brookings, Gold Beach and Agness. On Monday morning, an air quality monitor in Brookings was in the unhealthy for sensitive groups category, while the other two monitors were both showing good air quality.
People can take the following precautions:
- Be aware of smoke concentrations in your area and avoid the places with highest concentrations.
- Avoid strenuous outdoor activity in smoky conditions.
- If you have heart disease, asthma or other respiratory ailments, or are over 65, you have a higher risk of illness from wildfire smoke.
- Small children and pregnant women are also at increased risk. These residents are encouraged to stay indoors.
The color-coded Air Quality Index ranks air quality as follows: Green is good. Yellow is moderate, which is unhealthy for extremely sensitive groups. Orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups such as children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with respiratory conditions. Red is unhealthy for everyone. Purple is very unhealthy for all groups. Maroon is hazardous.
Residents
can view current air quality conditions at DEQ’s Air Quality Index https://oraqi.deq.state.or.us/home/map
The index is also available on smart phones. Simply search for OregonAir in
your app store.
The
Oregon Smoke Blog has daily smoke forecasts for specific areas, and other
resources at http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/
Oregon's monitoring network does not capture air quality conditions in all
communities so it is important for residents to gauge air quality conditions
where they live and take appropriate actions to protect themselves.
Contact:
DEQ: Katherine Benenati, Public Affairs Specialist, Eugene, 541-600-6119, benenati.katherine@deq.state.or.us