A satellite image shows the West Coast inundated with wildfire smoke on Friday, Sept, 11, 2020. 

After escaping the impact of the region’s raging wildfires this week, Central Oregon residents awoke Friday to find smoke had turned their communities into a landscape of sepia-toned silhouettes.

Choking smoke, having drifted east overnight on changing winds, sent air quality to hazardous levels. It was so thick, residents could taste it. The smell of burned forests was inescapable as the smoke infiltrated grocery stores, shops and other indoor places where the public gathers.

Soot covered vehicles and homes. Daytime driving required headlights.

The smoke, from fires in Western Oregon and Washington, also swallowed vistas and landmarks. From one bank of the Deschutes River, trees on the other side were nearly obscured. Pilot Butte seemed to vanish.

“The smoke is terrible! Maybe a quarter-mile of visibility with an orange glow,” said Mike Britton, a Madras resident.

“Another weekend housebound, but I guess it could be worse!”

But hazardous smoke was everywhere in Oregon.

“Right now, our air quality ranks worst in the world due to these fires,” said Gov. Kate Brown, after she issued an order to the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration to tell employers to keep workers indoors.

The air quality index in Bend reached 499 on Friday at 11 a.m. The index measures airborne pollution and assigns a warning level for values over 101. Any number over 300 is considered hazardous. At hazardous levels, all residents are advised to stay indoors.

Other towns in Central Oregon had similar or worse smoke levels early Friday. The air quality index in Sisters rose to 559 while the reading in Redmond stood at 450. Poor air quality continues to impact areas west of the Cascades — the AQI index reached 795 in the town of Turner on Friday.

Areas to the east and north of Bend suffered less smoke impacts. Prineville had an AQI reading of 125 while the AQI in Madras was 186. AQI between 101 and 150 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Between 151 and 200 the air quality is considered unhealthy for all groups.

Some of Oregon’s largest fires have occurred to the west and north of Bend. They include the Lionshead Fire (136,348 acres), the Santiam/Beachie Creek Fire (185,236 acres), and the Holiday Farm Fire (156,782 acres), according at 5:30 p.m. report Friday from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management fires and hotspots dashboard.

Even as smoke cast a pall across the city, a few Bendites and tourists ventured outside. Most river-goers stayed away, but a handful of surfers braved the standing wave at the Bend Whitewater Park.

Dion Grant was among those at the park. He had a break from his normal routine doing construction at the Caldera High School site after the project’s managers called off work for the day due to the smoke. After being on the water for the better part of an hour he experienced slight shortness of breath.

“I just feel like its problematic for people with lung and breathing problems,” Grant said. “So I figured I’d be all right for a little bit.”

Nearby, Bjorn and Julia Sbierski were strolling along the Deschutes River Trail as it wound through the Old Mill District. They have been vacationing in the Northwest from San Francisco and planned to do some outdoor activities but the smoke has altered their plans.

“We are sad because we want to enjoy the outdoors and go hiking,” Sbierski said. “Now we are afraid to breathe too hard or do any sports. But we still want to see and enjoy the city.”

Smoke is expected to remain very heavy in Central Oregon through the weekend, according to a post on the Oregon Smoke Information blog. Heavy smoke is also expected to impact highways across the Cascades.

“The current projection is levels will say unhealthy or hazardous in much of the state,” said Laura Gleim, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. “This includes Central Oregon, through at least Monday morning.”

Gleim said air quality for the first 12 hours of Friday was unprecedented.

Since the smoke rolled in overnight there was a slight increase in the number of people coming in with exacerbated breathing issues, said Dr. Nathan Ansbaugh, at St. Charles Bend emergency department.

With the unhealthy and hazardous air quality, anyone with underlying lung issues, like asthma, COPD or lung issues, will be feeling some complications, Ansbaugh said. Most likely the air quality will cause people to have a dry cough or feel a shortness of breath, two of the primary symptoms of COVID-19, he said. The difference will be that the smoke won’t cause a fever or body ache.

“People need to hunker down,” Ansbaugh said. “Stay home. We don’t want people going out to public places. We want them to stay home.”

To keep the smoke out of a home, keep the doors and windows shut, he said.

Individuals who are experiencing shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing need to reach out to their medical provider said Diana Burden, Mosaic Medical’s clinical medical director and acting Madras clinic medical director. Those with underlying medical conditions and others who use an inhaler must make sure their prescription is unexpired and available to them, she said.

“We recommend that everyone optimize their time indoors as much as they can,” said Burden. “Over the weekend everyone should avoid any outdoor activities, especially those that involve exertion.”

The poor quality air has forced airlines in Redmond to cancel most flights in order to keep workers out of the smoke.

“It’s due to safety for the workers who are on the ramp,” said Zachary Bass, director of the Redmond Airport. “The airlines have deemed the air quality too bad to have them working outside at this point.”

Bass recommends that travelers contact the airline to see if their flights are affected.