The smoke is from the Tumblebug Complex Fire, about five miles southwest of Crescent Lake, and the Boze and Rainbow Creek Fire west of Diamond Lake.
With hot, dry weather and an unstable atmosphere keeping the fires burning, they could keep sending up smoke for at least several weeks.
“They're both in the early stages of being suppressed,” Gibbons said. “With increased winds predicted, it looks like they're going to be active for the near future.”
The winds are still predicted to be pushing smoke toward Bend today and Saturday, said Joe Solomon, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pendleton.
Smoke levels are getting up in the range we consider to be unhealthy for certain groups,” said Mark Fisher, acting air quality eastern region manager with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, listing groups like the elderly, children and people with asthma or heart or lung conditions. “They should stay inside, hopefully in places where there's a good ventilation system or air-conditioning system that has a filter on it.”
For information on these and other fires burning around Oregon visit: http://www.nwccweb.us/information/firemap.asp
