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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Field burning halted due to smoke

Meghann M. Cuniff Staff writer

Field burning on the Rathdrum Prairie produced so much smoke Thursday that officials stopped the burning three hours before the scheduled cut-off time.

The fires, which blackened an estimated 500 acres, prompted complaints about the smoke, according to Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.

The state Department of Agriculture decided around 1 p.m. that the weather wasn’t right for more burning and called off fires scheduled to be set in the afternoon, said Linda Clovis, spokeswoman for the North Idaho Farmers Association.

A clean-air watchdog group that had smoke observers stationed throughout the region reported a large amount of smoke covering Athol and the Rathdrum area.

“The smoke was very thick and slow in clearing out,” said Patti Gora, executive director of Safe Air For Everyone. “We’re certainly concerned about the health effects of this.”

One controlled blaze crossed Hayden Avenue, Kootenai County firefighter Ryan Asher said, burning about four acres near a residence in the 1100 block of Hayden. Firefighters spent about 20 minutes containing it.

Another fire near state Highway 41 sent smoke across the highway at a low altitude, Gora said, causing motorists to flip on their headlights in the middle of the day and slow down.

“It’s simply not safe or prudent to be burning this bluegrass in a highly populated area,” she said.

But Clovis said field burning is necessary for the health of farms and that opponents fail to look at the big picture when criticizing the burns.

“You get a group that is very much opposed to something and that’s all they can talk about,” Clovis said. “I don’t think they can see the forest for the trees.”

Though there are sometimes negative effects from the burns, the benefit they bring to the community and state by protecting farms from infestations and removing crop stubble is worth it, she said.

“Everything we do in our life, there’s gong to be some downside to it,” Clovis said. “I think the majority of people understand and really do appreciate having the farms in the area. Not that there are very many left.”

Besides, she said, farmers who burn their fields are mindful of the smoke’s effects on the public, and that is why burning ended early Thursday.

Safe Air For Everyone is calling for awareness about field burning and the effects of smoke, Gora said. State lawmakers continue to pass laws protecting the burns, so their only hope for change is increased awareness, she said.

“We’re very concerned that the state is making these foolish kinds of burn calls,” said Gora, who said she’s been following clean-air and field-burning issues for the past decade.

About 1,300 acres have been burned in the area over the past week, Clovis said, with a few hundred left to go. The burns likely will finish sometime next week, she said.

“It’s all depending on the meteorology,” she said.