High temp record melts
Readers Vic and Kathy Eachon of Athol submitted this photo of a juvenile bald eagle looking from a perch on the property of the Eachons' daughter and son-in-law, Judy and Chris Thompson, into the smoky haze above Lake Pend Oreille.
Photo courtesy of Bob Wood Smoke is seen from Friday a fire above North Gold Creek east of Bayview.
By MAUREEN DOLAN
Staff Writer
A steamy work week ended with a scorcher that set a high temperature record for the first time this year in the Lake City.
A high of 104 degrees was recorded Friday afternoon in central Coeur d’Alene by Harris-Mann Climatology.
Things are expected to cool down by 15 to 20 degrees for today and Sunday, but the cold front delivering that temperature relief is expected to bring dry, gusty winds and possibly thunderstorms, raising the risk for new wildfire starts and fanning the flames if they do begin.
The hot, dry weather prompted the fire chiefs in Kootenai County to impose additional restrictions Friday, beyond those included in the Stage 1 Restrictions now in place for North Idaho.
“All campfires within the individual fire protection districts and departments will be prohibited, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” wrote Craig Etherton, a Coeur d’Alene fire inspector and investigator and president of the Kootenai County Fire Prevention Co-op, in a news release.
The decision to ban campfires throughout the county was made by the Kootenai County Fire Chiefs Association.
This restriction prohibits all open burning, including stove fires, recreational fires and fires in chimeneas, the freestanding fireplaces often in yards or on patios.
Etherton said the campfire ban will likely be in place “for the foreseeable future.”
With fire danger now officially very high, the fire chiefs are keeping a close eye on fire behavior, Etherton said, in the event the threat of fire becomes extreme.
Should the fire danger become elevated, fire officials could impose Stage 2 Restrictions that prohibit campfires and other open burning and ban the operation of motorized vehicles off designated roads and trails.
With Stage 2 there are also “hoot owl” restrictions that prohibit certain activities between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m., including operating chain saws or other equipment powered by combustion engines for logging activities, road building, industrial woodcutting or firewood gathering. Blasting, welding or other activities that generate flames or flammable material are also banned under Stage 2 restrictions.
A Red Flag Warning, meaning critical fire weather conditions are occurring, is in place until 8 p.m. tonight, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane.
An air quality alert issued by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in Coeur d’Alene and the Nez Perce Tribe, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is in place until 10 p.m. tonight for Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah, Latah, Nez Perce and Lewis counties.
“Unhealthy air will be common across North Idaho,” said the alert. “High pressure over the region will continue with light winds and very little ventilation of smoke from wildfires in Washington, Idaho, BC, and areas to our south. Winds increasing Friday into Saturday should help improve air quality for the weekend.”
Children, the elderly and individuals with respiratory illnesses are most at risk of serious health effects with the current conditions.
Additional information for health recommendations, air quality, and wildfire can be found on the Idaho Smoke Information Blog at http://idsmoke.blogspot.com/