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QuickTake:
The majority of smoke from the blaze near Diamond Peak has blown south, but researchers warn that wildfire smoke remains a growing health threat as Oregon faces longer, more intense fire seasons.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service do not expect debilitating levels of smoke to drift into Eugene and Springfield from the 6,000-acre Emigrant Fire in southeast Lane County.
“It’s enough to notice the haze, but not enough to degrade the air quality into an unhealthy category,” said Tyler Kranz, lead meteorologist in the Portland office. “The worst of the smoke is south of Lane County, but not by much.”
Kranz was referring to how wind patterns and active fires may react over the next 48 hours.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 26, smoke from the Emigrant Fire’s plume was blowing south, most noticeably into Roseburg.
Haze was visible in Eugene, Springfield, Cottage Grove and Oakridge and is expected to thicken through the day before tapering off by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The smoke probably won’t be as dense as it has been in past years, like 2020, when it choked communities for days, Kranz said.
Southern Willamette Valley’s smoke issue
Wildfire smoke has become a serious health issue in the Willamette Valley as longer, more destructive fire seasons funnel pollution into Oregon’s valleys. A hotter, drier climate, population growth and development pushing into wildlands have ushered in an era of extreme wildfires.
“I think that all of us as human beings, we’re really scared by the flames,” said Erica Fleishman, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute. “The flames are what, in the short term, kill people and affect structures, but many more people are exposed to wildfire smoke, and even relatively short exposures to wildfire smoke can have long-term effects.”
Wildfire smoke is especially dangerous because it carries fine particles that are easily inhaled. The makeup of those particles depends on what is burning, from trees to buildings.
Particle pollution in the region has worsened over the past five years, according to the American Lung Association. In its State of the Air report released in April, the group ranked Eugene and Springfield fourth-worst in the nation for air pollution, largely due to wildfire smoke.
Wildfire smoke does not linger in cities such as Portland and Medford the way it does in the Willamette Valley, where wind patterns and surrounding forests can trap it for days.
Prolonged exposure puts everyone at risk, but children, older adults and people with pre-existing heart or lung conditions are most vulnerable. Their bodies respond differently than those of healthy adults, depending on factors such as immune defenses, body weight and circulation.
Smoke solutions and setbacks
As a solution, Fleishman suggested developing clean-air shelters, similar to warming or cooling centers, to protect people when smoke settles in. This is an idea that has been widely shared by public health managers and other researchers locally, but community programs aimed at shielding vulnerable populations have faced setbacks.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently terminated a $19.5 million grant that would have funded extreme weather shelters in Lane County, including one in west Eugene that would have offered smoke relief. The agency also canceled a $1 million grant intended to help Oakridge residents improve indoor air quality through home upgrades.
“The reality is that some of what we’re seeing right now is having a pretty major impact on our ability for communities to be able to prepare,” University of Oregon associate research professor Heidi Huber-Stearns said in May, shortly after the grants were frozen.
“And we see smoke and heat co-occurring more and more frequently. So I am concerned about that,” said Huber-Stearns, who specializes in environmental governance.
Despite uncertainty, researchers emphasized that people still have power in what they can do and by understanding what information is available. Using air purifiers, checking air quality, and knowing when to stay indoors can make a meaningful difference.
Air quality resources like airnow.gov provide real-time updates using a color-coded scale from 0 to 500. Higher numbers indicate worse conditions and dark red signals hazardous air. People can also enable smoke alerts through the Department of Environmental Quality’s free OregonAir app.
