Rafters head for the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue River Friday in spite of the Flat Fire burning downriver near Agness.

The Flat Fire has prompted a few rafters to cancel their plans to float the Wild Section of the Rogue River, but scores of people have canceled their plans for jet boat trips headed upriver from Gold Beach.

The fire, which started July 15 about three miles south of Agness, has charred more than 24 square miles of forest at last report. Agness is about six miles downstream from where rafters on the Wild Section typically pull out at Foster Bar after their days-long floats, but it’s about 30 miles upstream from Gold Beach and along the route of a popular 52-mile upstream trip offered by Jerry’s Rogue Jets of Gold Beach.

As of Friday morning, only one rafting party representing 12 people had canceled their permit, on Thursday, to float the Wild Section because of the fire and its smoke — and that permit was quickly snatched up by others, according to Nick Spille, a ranger with the Bureau of Land Management working out of the Rand Ranger Station near Galice. Up to 120 people a day may embark to float the Wild Section this time of year, and permits are in high demand.

“They said it was because of the fire,” Spille said, clarifying that they said it was because of smoke from the fire.

But at Jerry’s, “a couple of people … less than 100” have canceled scheduled jet boat trips upriver, according to employee Matthew Dickson. About 300 people a day ride the boats this time of year, some of them on the 104-mile round trip that goes well past the area of the fire and costs $135 per adult. Other trips are shorter.

“We are still running the trips,” Dickson said Friday afternoon.

The company has a 24-hour cancellation policy, but is refunding payments from customers even if they cancel the day of their planned trip, he said. Some people have planned their trip months in advance.

As Dickson spoke, skies were clear in Gold Beach, about 13 miles from the fire’s western edge.

“I don’t really see any smoke,” he said.

The fire is pumping out so much smoke that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued an air quality advisory through 5 p.m. Saturday in the Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, Brookings and Gold Beach areas. Foster Bar Wednesday and Thursday was smoky, according to rafters.

Spille said he heard from someone who pulled out at Foster Bar Wednesday.

“They said there was smoke the last couple miles,” he said.

Smoke near Agness at Oak Flat, where the fire began, was in the hazardous range Friday afternoon, according to air quality readings posted by airnow.gov. Those readings at mid-afternoon Friday showed air quality in the moderate range about 10 miles upriver from Gold Beach and at Almeda County Park near Galice where dozens of rafters had put in on a mostly clear Friday morning to float the Wild Section over four or five days.

At the park, rafting guide Eva Bol with Arta Rafting Trips of Merlin said Foster Bar was smoky when she pulled out there on Thursday. She and a multi-raft group headed down again Friday.

“As far as I know, it’s headed the other way,” she said, referring to the fire, which has burned mainly to the west. “The take out might be smoky.”

Company guide Brice Harkness said he’d been monitoring the fire and that there were options to exit the river upstream of Foster Bar, if needed, via Eden Valley. He sounded optimistic, however.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” he said.

Andrew Bujalski of Austin, Texas, a customer in one of the company rafts, said he didn’t know about the fire until that moment, “not until you came and told us we were doomed.”

A party of 14 people preparing to embark from the park in several rental rafts were equally surprised.

“Nobody told us” about the fire, said Jenn Grayson, a member of the party and a resident of Connecticut.

Ten people in Grayson’s group of friends had come from the East Coast, while four were from the West Coast.

“We’ve been planning it for a long time,” she said.

Another group of private rafters had been monitoring the fire closely. Wendy Wilkinson of Eugene said other options included the Deschutes River, but that the Rogue River was her father’s favorite river and she was carrying his ashes to sprinkle them along the route.

“My dad’s going on his last rafting trip,” she said.

Wilkinson was floating with “her besty” Jennifer Lowell of Colorado and others, using multiple rafts. Lowell said she had watched videos featuring a Flat Fire operations chief that was posted to a social media page maintained by the team managing firefighting resources.

“That’s so helpful,” she said. “It’s just great communication.”

“I’ve been watching it every day,” said Marc Bourden, another member of the group. “Most of the action is going to the northwest (away from Foster Bar).”

Russ Anderson of Durango, Colorado, who secured the group’s permit to float the river, said the fire was a bummer, but that it was a beautiful day. He’s floated the river a half dozen times or so.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to float one of the original Wild and Scenic rivers,” he said. “I’m happy to share the trip with Wendy and the memory of her father.

“Maybe we’re living in a time of new normal,” he said. “Wildfires are a part of that.”