The haze over the Valley this morning could be dissipated by early afternoon. Shifting winds blew smoke from the Poco Fire, burning in the Tonto National Forest near Young, to the Valley. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Mark Brodie reports.

MARK BRODIE: The state Department of Environmental Quality issued a health watch for the Phoenix area today because of the smoke. The agency’s Mark Shaffer says older and younger people, and those with respiratory problems, should stay inside as much as they can today. He says it’s not that common for the Valley to see smoke from a wildfire burning as far away as the Poco Fire, but he says it’s not unprecedented, either.

MARK SHAFFER: We had the same condition about a month ago from the Sunflower Fire one day, when the smoke inexplicably started moving north to south instead of the normal south to north, so there have been precedents for that here recently, too.

BRODIE: Shaffer says once the smoke is gone, it shouldn’t leave any lingering health or environmental concerns.