09/17/08 La Pine
By Allison Martin
17 miles away, smoke from the Royce Butte fire in Crescent Lake made it's way into La Pine and eventually traveled about 40 miles to Bend. "I could smell smoke pretty heavy when I left home," said Bend Resident Mike Leroux.
 
"We looked outside our front door you could see the Paulina's normally, this morning you couldn't see anything it was like a big haze as though maybe a fog came in," said La Pine Resident Tony Borba.
 
Tony Borba and his wife drive the Moo Van around La Pine serving lunch, and they noticed more people staying indoors Wednesday. ""We have a lot of seniors that are customers on our route and stuff and it has cut down on our business because of it," said Borba.
 
Wednesday morning the Department of Air Quality issued an advisory suggesting staying inside when the smoke is heavy. It can be especially harmful to children, senior citizens and those with asthma. By Wednesday afternoon the air quality had improved in Bend to moderate. ""It's nice to be able to breathe more heavy cause normally we do because we're at the 42- hundred foot level and breathing in there you can feel it in your lungs," said Borba.
 
Traveling through Southern Oregon Wednesday, Douglas Stafford and his biker friends rode right past the smoke. ""We didn't know what it was at first it smelt like somebody was burning a fireplace and then when we got out ridding, we could see off in the distance and then the sun come up and you could see a different color like an orange glow around the sun," said Stafford.
 
The smoke was heaviest in the early morning, by seven o'clock the smoke concentration in Central Oregon quadrupled from its level at midnight. As fast as it formed, the smokey air dropped once the winds picked up. The DEQ now hopes the winds will stay calm so they can extinguish the Royce Butte blaze.
 
To check current wildfire health rating visit the DEQ's Wildfire air Quality Rating Scale
http://www.deq.state.or.us/aqi/wildfire/index.htm
To check the hourly history of smoke concentration visit http://www.deq.state.or.us/aqi/wildfire/wildfirePMconc.aspx
To check for updated health information visit http://www.deq.state.or.us/er/docs/localprojects/wildfiresandaqfs070606....