Gabe Miller, Juniper Swim & Fitness Center lead lifeguard, cleans the surface of the empty kids pool on July 24 during a day of pool closures because of smoke and poor air quality in Bend.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality alert for Deschutes County through 3 p.m. Sunday due to smoke from the Bedrock Fire in the Willamette National Forest.

Temperatures in Deschutes County will also rise throughout the weekend into early next week, getting close to 100 degrees before temperatures begin to drop later in the week.

“(The Bedrock fire) has basically been the main culprit for the smoke, but there’s also a couple of other, smaller wildfires,” said Mary Wister, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Pendleton.

The Wiley Fire has burned 220 acres and the Salmon Fire 123 acres. Those fires are burning in Linn County and Lane County, respectively.

The Bedrock Fire has burned 16,000 acres, and is 5% contained, said Wister.

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“We’ve been really hot and dry. That looks like that’s continuing. We’re not going to see any precipitation at least for the next several days,” Wister said Friday. “We’ve had some north to northwest winds today, and they’ll continue tomorrow and that’s also going to help push in that smoke.”

The air quality sensors for Sisters, Redmond, Bend, and Sunriver were all in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range, while the sensors for La Pine and Prineville were in the moderate range as of late Friday morning, according to the DEQ’s air quality monitoring.

“Of all the days in Deschutes County itself, (Friday) will be the day that’s gonna probably be the worst conditions,” said Wister. “As the weekend goes on, some of that smoke’s gonna be pushed to the south Saturday and more to the southwest on Sunday.”

As the winds change direction, La Pine and Sunriver will likely still be experiencing unhealthy air quality, she said.

As next week begins, overnight temperatures won’t provide much of a cooldown, said Wister. Deschutes County is entering a warming trend that will continue to the middle of next week. Central Oregon will experience overnight low temperatures in the 60s, with La Pine having a colder spot in the mid-50s.

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“As for the heat, I would start making those plans now for any kind of outdoor yard work that might need to be done, because by the middle of next week, it’s just going to be too darn hot to do anything,” she said.