Wildfire smoke dims Coeur d'Alene skies on summer day

Smoke from a wildfire north of Bonners Ferry hung over City Beach and dulled Coeur d’Alene’s summer sky, turning a familiar lakefront scene into a hazy one. A photo dated July 16 showed Jason Reddick tossing a baseball near the beach as the smoke drifted through town.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality expected Coeur d'Alene’s air quality to be affected by wildfire smoke as hot, unstable conditions, low humidity, lightning potential and periodic gusty winds kept fire weather elevated to critical across parts of Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. Smoky conditions in Spokane were tied to the Turner Hill fire in North Idaho, and the Spokane Regional Health District put Spokane County air quality in the Very Unhealthy range Friday morning.

Outdoor exercise should stop when air reaches that range. Children, older adults and people with heart or lung conditions can feel smoke effects sooner, which can change plans for families at Coeur d’Alene Lake, people walking downtown and workers who spend their shifts outside.

Washington’s children and youth air-quality recommendations cover school, child care, athletic practices and games, camps and field trips, all of which can move indoors or shorten once smoke builds. Summer training, lakefront runs and pickup games at City Beach can move indoors or shorten once smoke builds.

In 2022, unhealthy air hung over downtown and Fernan Lake as smoke spread across North Idaho. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe Air Quality Program monitors and manages air quality across the Reservation to protect human health, cultural practices and the natural environment.

Crews were also battling the Upper Smith Fire on July 15, adding to the smoke already spreading through the Inland Northwest.