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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Ashland monitor reads 'unhealthy' ... Police Reports ... Ticket Availability ... Ashland monitor reads 'unhealthy' ... Police Reports ... Ticket Availability ... WILDFIRES Air monitoring station will be set up in Ashland Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 4, 2015 at 7:43 PM Updated at 1:12 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 4, 2015 at 7:43 PM Updated at 1:12 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Smoke cancels Ashland City Band concert, closes pool • Local Take: How are you coping with all the smoke? • Stouts fire still growing, but in a good way • Smoke blankets Rogue Valley as Stouts fire grows to 8,500 acres... » Social News Smoke flowing into the Rogue Valley has caused unhealthful conditions as measured at several state Department of Environmental Quality monitors, but Ashlanders have had to extropolate from readings taken in Medford, where the closest permanent monitor is located. Until now. The U.S. Forest Service will set on up on the going to set one up atop the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Black Swan Theatre, according to city, OSF and DEQ sources. It is expected to provide accurate, real-time readings, according to the DEQ. A temporary station was set up at the same place in 2013 during a bout of forest fires then.  Since smoke thickened as the Stouts and other fires grew Friday, Ashlanders and others have been able check the air quality in Medford on the web (www.deq.state.or.us/aqi/index.aspx) and calculate that will be about the reading for Ashland an hour later. This is because prevailing winds are generally coming down the Bear Creek Valley to Ashland from the northwest and that’s where Medford is, says Meghan Fegundes, DEQ air quality natural resource specialist in Medford. The website gives Air Quality Index readings broken into six ranges: 0-50 (good air quality); 51-100 (moderate); 101-150 (unhealthy for sensitive groups); 151-200 (unhealty); 201-300 (very unhealthy); and 301 and up (hazardous). On Tuesday, the Air Quality Index for Medford stood at 163 for the 24-hour period and 121 for the last hour, meaning for the day it was “unhealthy” for all groups and, in the last hour, at 1:20 p.m., only “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” At 2:20, the one-hour reading had improved to 93 or “moderate.” New readings are available online by 20 minutes after the hour.  Smoke on Saturday was bad enough OSF canceled the "Head Over Heels" show scheduled for the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre. Posts on social media showed a long line popped up shortly after the cancelation at the Varsity Theatre as theater-goers seeking entertainment became movie goers. On its homepage, OSF posted a notice in a prominent location saying "Because of wildfires in the area, we continue to monitor the air quality in the Rogue Valley and will keep audience members aware of any changes that would affect outdoor performances in the Allen Elizabethan Theatre." Medford Rogues baseball games in Medford were cancelled Saturday and Sunday. The tiny particulates sent into the atmosphere by wildfires can penetrate deep into the lungs and have a variety of negative effects on health. For a quick visual check of air quality, says Jackson Baures, Jackson County Health Division Manager, look out the window and estimate how far you can see. If it’s 15 miles or more, air quality is good. If it’s less than one mile, it’s very unhealthy and you should avoid outdoor activity, according to a chart from the Jackson County Health Department. If it’s 5 to 15 miles, it’s “moderate” and you should avoid prolonged exposure. If it’s under 5 miles, it’s unhealthy for young children, seniors, pregnant women and those with heart or lung disease or asthma. They should minimize outdoor activity. If it’s under 3 miles, it’s “unhealthy for everyone.”  On Tuesday, Ashland’s visibility appeared to be about two miles, meaning unhealthy for everyone. Medford’s appeared about the same. Sometimes, ODOT webcams can help with the visual estimate. That would mean sensitive groups should avoid all outdoor activity.  When there's no measuring station available nearby, Baures says, use the visual assessment — and, based on present air quality, definitely forget about jogging, unless you can do it inside on a treadmill.  Any idea about how long the smoke will hang around? It all depends on weather, winds and what the fire does, says Fegundes. Although there are fires in California — and some “not even discovered yet” in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, most of the smoke is still coming from the Stouts fire near Canyonville.  “I would say it’s a typical smoke impact for wildfire season. Our topography, a basin, enhances us getting smoke in the valley and keeping it here,” says Fegundes. “It’s hard to predict when the smoke will leave because the fire is still going on.”  For information on smoke and wildfires in Oregon, see http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com.  For more information about wildfires and health threats from wildfire smoke, go to http://public.health.oregon.gov/Preparedness/Prepare/Pages/PrepareForWildfire.aspx John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 4, 2015 at 7:43 PM Updated at 1:12 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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