Rogue Valley Burn Days: What Green, Yellow and Red Mean for Your Wood Stove

What Each Color Means

The colors are a forecast of fine particle pollution (PM2.5) made by Oregon DEQ or Jackson County Health and Human Services. Green means air quality in the Rogue Valley is predicted to be good. Yellow means it is approaching unhealthy levels. Red means it is forecast to reach unhealthy levels.

Where Fireplaces Fit

The advisory applies to fireplaces as well as stoves. The county's page adds that fireplaces are not certified unless they have a certified wood-burning insert. In practice an open fireplace is treated like a non-certified stove, which means no fire on a yellow or red day.

What "No Visible Smoke" and "50% Opacity" Mean

Opacity is how much the smoke blocks the view. The county explains it this way: if the visibility of an object seen through the smoke is reduced by half, the opacity is 50 percent. No visible smoke means what it says. A certified stove burning dry wood on a hot fire can do it. A smoldering fire cannot.

Two allowances are written into Jackson County Code Chapter 1810. A high pollution period begins three hours after the yellow or red day is declared, so there is a three-hour lead time before the restriction is enforced. And smoke from starting or refueling a fire is excused for up to 30 minutes in any four-hour period.

Does It Apply to My Address

The advisory restricts burning inside the Air Quality Maintenance Area (AQMA). The county gives a simple test: the AQMA boundary is the same as DEQ's vehicle Inspection and Maintenance boundary, so if you have to take your car to the emissions testing station, you are in the AQMA.

The county code applies only outside city limits. Inside a city, the city's own ordinance applies instead. Medford, Ashland, Talent, Phoenix and Central Point each define a high pollution period the same way the county does, starting three hours after DEQ or the county declares a red or yellow day. Open and barrel burning is a separate matter: the county says it is prohibited all year inside the city limits of Medford, Jacksonville, Phoenix and Talent.

City Rules Side by Side

The five cities with a wood-burning chapter follow the same pattern on yellow and red days: no burning unless you hold an exemption, except that an Oregon-certified stove may run if it shows no visible smoke once the three-hour lead time has passed, with 30 minutes in any four hours excused for starting or refueling. Where they differ is the everyday smoke limit and the fine.

Jacksonville and Eagle Point

We found no burn-day chapter in the current Jacksonville or Eagle Point codes as published online. Eagle Point's code covers only the removal of non-certified stoves when a home is sold. If you live in either city, ask city hall which rules apply before assuming the advisory does not reach you.

Exemptions

The county grants two kinds of exemption from the yellow and red day restrictions. An economic need exemption is for households with income under 80 percent of the Medford-area median, and allows a household to rely on wood as its only heat. A special need exemption covers situations such as a furnace that is out of service through no fault of the owner. Only one exemption type is issued per household, it must be renewed every year, and under the county code exemptions expire on September 1.

If You Rent or Own a Rental

Jackson County Code 1810.05 says no property owner within the AQMA may rent or lease a residential unit that is not equipped with a secondary source of heat other than a solid fuel burning device. Medford, Ashland, Talent and Phoenix have the same rule in their own codes, with exemptions a landlord has to apply for. Central Point words it differently, requiring an alternate heat source in every rental. The point is the same everywhere: a tenant should never have to choose between heat and breaking the advisory.

How to Burn Without Visible Smoke

• Burn dry wood. EPA's Burn Wise guidance is to season wood for at least six months and burn it at less than 20 percent moisture. A moisture meter settles the question.
• Build a small, hot fire rather than a large, damped-down one. EPA calls a smoldering fire neither safe nor efficient.
• Go outside and look at the chimney once the fire is established. If you can see smoke, the fire needs more air or drier wood.
• Keep the flue clean. A flue narrowed by creosote drafts poorly, and a poor draft makes smoke.

Grants Pass and Josephine County

The Jackson County advisory does not cover Josephine County. Josephine County lists its own Citizen Burn Advisory phone line as 476-WOOD (9663), with one recorded message for wood stoves and another for open and barrel burning. Burn complaints go to county Environmental Health at (541) 474-5325.

Check Before You Light

The advisory changes daily and the county can change its rules and phone numbers. This guide reflects the county's advisory page and county code as we read them in 2026. For today's color, call the hotline.

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