Fire season now open

COEUR d’ALENE — More than 65 wildfires have been logged in North Idaho, and fire officials believe that is only the beginning of a fire season they expect will last through September.

“We’ve had 65 wildfire starts,” said Shoshana Cooper, fire information officer for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests.

Most of those fires burned a couple acres or less, Cooper said, but recent hot, dry weather — seasonally normal for July in the Panhandle, means the fire season has officially begun.

A 5-acre fire in the Kootenai Valley in Boundary County grew to 15 acres Wednesday, Cooper said.

“We’re definitely in the fire season with the higher temperatures we’ve had this week and no precipitation in the forecast,” Cooper said.

Last year a long string of hot, dry weather prompted officials to prohibit open fires in Panhandle forests.

The Stage II restrictions last year ruled out campfires, camp stoves, or any open flames, limited smoking to inside closed vehicles, prohibited off-road vehicles from traveling off designated roads and trails and had loggers on “hoot owl,” allowing them to operate chain saws and machinery only after 1 a.m. and before 1 p.m.

Of 45 incidents reported in June in North Idaho, 22 were wildfires that were snuffed, and the others either went out by themselves or were reports of smoke, according to the Coeur d’Alene Interagency Dispatch Center.

Wildfires at Scarcello, Dufort and Round Mountain were extinguished, and a fire reported at Fernan Saddle, June 8, turned out to be a camp fire.

So far this month, 32 wildfires were reported including at Chilco, Gozzer, Fernan and Moscow Bay on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Helped by hot weather and dry fuels, the 15-acre Kootenai Valley fire at Rock Creek is being fought by air and ground crews, Mary Fritz, of the Idaho Department of Lands said.

“It started after 1 p.m. (Wednesday),” Fritz said. “We don’t know the cause.”

Smoke in Coeur d’Alene early Wednesday was caused by a fire in Spokane County. Firefighters built a line around the fire along Upriver Drive near Camp Sekani that destroyed a home, burning 115 acres, according to Wednesday news reports. Mandatory evacuations for the surrounding area were lifted Wednesday.

“It’s getting hotter, it’s getting drier,” Fritz said. “Everyone out there needs to be very cautious.”