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Smoke will be gone with the wind By PAUL FATTIG There is good news and bad news concerning the shroud of smoke from Northern California wildfires filling the Rogue and Applegate valleys since Tuesday. First, the bad: Forest Service firefighters will do more backburning today in an effort to burn fuel ahead of the fires, temporarily creating more smoke. The good news? A change in wind direction will soon leave the valley clear of the California smoke, says the National Weather Service. "We've had a southern wind blowing the smoke up into our area but that is changing," said Mike Stavish, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office at the Medford airport. "We'll be getting a northeasterly flow, which should keep the smoke out of the valley." Stavish, speaking Thursday afternoon, said the wind shift was expected to occur overnight with the northeasterly flow continuing through Saturday. In recent days, the wildfires that have burned more than 60,000 acres in Northern California have filled the Rogue and Applegate valleys with smoke thick enough to make an L.A. escapee homesick. But officials monitoring the wildfire smoke say it didn't trigger any health alerts. "Even though it has looked bad, the particulate level has been well within (acceptable) range," said John Becker, the Medford-based air quality manager for the state Department of Environmental Quality. However, the very young and elderly -- as well as those who have respiratory problems -- should stay inside during periods of heavy smoke or smog, he noted. Those seeking outdoor exercise should also consider the smoke-laden air, he said. The agency will continue to monitor the air, Becker added. Given the continuing dry conditions, more fires can be expected, observed Jon Silvius, spokesman for the Klamath National Forest. "We still have some fire season left," he said, noting that it sometimes continues well into October. The Stein Fire, burning in the Marble Mountain Wilderness about 30 air miles south of the California state line, has been held at about 720 acres, Silvius said. Firefighters are employing "minimum impact suppression methods" to preserve wilderness characteristics, officials said. But firefighters are backburning areas today to remove fuel from the Northern California fires, Silvius said, noting that will increase smoke in the region. Lightning-caused fires have burned more than 60,000 acres in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in recent weeks. "Some of those fires in the wildernesss and in the Salmon-Trinity are will require rainfall to fully extinguish them," he said, "and there is nothing in the forecast." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA