Area residents should prepare for potential smoke impacts Thursday and Friday

A large area in the Ashland watershed is scheduled for a prescribed burn Thursday and Friday, pending a Wednesday afternoon approval from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Residents should prepare for smoke impacts, said Ashland Fire & Rescue Wildfire Division Chief Chris Chambers.

The prescribed burn will be in one of the boundary areas of the watershed shared by the City of Ashland and the U.S. Forest Service. The burn site is adjacent to an area where Ashland’s new water treatment plant is slated to be built. It’s also “literally an ember’s throw away,” from numerous neighborhoods, Chambers said, adding smoke will be “right in people’s backyards,” particularly in the Granite Street area.

The city has seen recent fires that started at illegal campsites in the area, and the targeted site fits into a larger strategy of creating “fuel breaks” or areas of lowered risk around the city and its watershed, Chambers said.

For prescribed burns, a permit for smoke is required from the DEQ. Such permits are typically issued between 3 and 4 p.m. the day before the intended burn. Pending this final hurdle, the city will complete a long-awaited project.

“We’ve been working on getting this area done for about six or seven years,” Chambers said. This is probably the most important burn unit on the boundary, but it’s the most challenging.”

Factors such as drought, the recent pandemic, proximity to homes and infrastructure, and unfavorable weather conditions previously dampened treatment efforts. Conditions have aligned to create an opportunity, but residents will likely notice significant smoke due to the volume of available fuel to be burned, Chambers added.

All trails leading into the area on the city side — Wonder, Wasabi, Fell on Knee and Hitt Road Trail — will be closed early Thursday morning into Friday, and possibly Saturday. Burning will likely begin around 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday. Wind patterns generally direct smoke from this area into downtown Ashland and Lithia Park around 6 or 7 p.m., Chambers said.

For more information on how to stay safe in smoke, visit Smokewise Ashand. To monitor air quality, visit fire.airnow.gov or download the Airnow app.

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news. This story first appeared at Ashland.news.