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Jeff Ewen prods at the halved chickens sizzling on the grill as heat rises off the metal to meet already-hot and still air. In a week when Shady Cove saw air quality reach “very unhealthy” or “hazardous” levels six days, residents and visitors have taken refuge. But not Ewen. Tuesday through Saturday, he fires up his grill under a canopy neighboring Shady Cove Market — no escape from the smoke for him. But those residents and tourists avoiding the outdoors are a different story. While smoke pouring from the wildfires just north of Shady Cove have made Ewen feel fatigued, the lack of foot traffic passing Jeffro’s Grill is cause for other headaches. “Once you lose those sales, they’re gone,” he says. Jeffro’s Grill is in its eighth year of operation, and Ewen says the business can weather a few slow weeks without significantly hurting. But the 2018 summer has brought an unusually early and active fire season, with smoke dampening tourist traffic that many in Shady Cove rely upon. It’s been quieter in chiropractor David Schacher’s office, too. Laurie Patterson, who manages the Shady Cove office and two others for Southern Oregon Chiropractic, says appointments have fallen from a usual 25 per day to about six. Patients are complaining of headaches and worsening allergy symptoms, and Patterson herself says her chest feels tight. Thursday morning, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s monitor at Shady Cove School indicated air levels were in the “hazardous” zone for at least three hours and didn’t fall below “very unhealthy” until 3 p.m. Schacher says he and his family called off their annual rafting trip from Lost Creek Lake down to the takeout area at Upper Rogue Regional County Park. He doesn’t want to risk the exposure. “I personally go from here,” he says, indicating his office. “I go to my house. You try your best to stay out of it.” Canceled raft trips are a familiar story now to Devon Stephenson, who co-owns and operates Rapid Pleasures Rafting Co. with his parents. He says he tries to steer people who call with concerns to reschedule their trips for the afternoon, when the smoke usually improves somewhat. “They trust us,” he says, “but sometimes we’re wrong.” More vulnerable populations are usually the focus of health advisories, but when air quality hits the hazardous threshold, the entire population is considered likely to be affected. Children and elderly people, as well as those with asthma, COPD or heart conditions are most susceptible to those effects. The Miles/Columbus/Snow Shoe/Round Top fires, totaling more than 40,000 acres, form the conflagration closest to Shady Cove. An Oregon Department of Forestry update Friday said that weather changes may spur growth over the weekend. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Kaylee Tornay at [email protected] or 541-776-4497. Follow her on Twitter @ ka_tornay .