Air quality alert issued for wildfire smoke

Several government agencies and the National Weather Service are warning about deteriorating air quality through Friday morning due to wildfire smoke. This comes at the same time the region is under a “red flag warning” for high fire danger from hot weather. Counties under the air quality alert are Spokane, Whitman, Asotin, Chelan, Douglas and Garfield in Washington and Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce in Idaho. Several new lightning-caused fires erupted in southern parts of the region Monday, and a series of new fires has been detected farther north. Some areas may see air quality drop into the unhealthy range for sensitive persons. Near record heat combined with instability in the atmosphere could lead to dramatic fire growth and dangerous “plume dominated” fires, forecasters said. Lower air pressure near the ground will create atmospheric conditions that are conducive to upward convection. Those can help drive upward flares with intense heat. South wind of 5 to 10 mph and relative humidity as low as 11 percent are predicted. Highs in Spokane are expected to reach the upper 90s to around 100 degrees. The fire warning is in effect from noon to 9 p.m. Monday night’s lightning storm sparked at least 35 new forest fires across North Idaho. Most are less than an acre, but a 40-acre fire is burning near Marble Creek on the St. Joe Ranger District. Five of the fires have been contained, and additional wildland firefighters have been requested by an interagency fire management team, said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Stage 2 fire restrictions remain in effect, which includes bans on campfires and smoking in the woods. For more information, visit http://idahofireinfo.blogspot.com/p/fire-restrictions.html. The Washington Department of Natural Resources today said that resources to fight fires are being stretched as a result of large fires breaking out across the Pacific Northwest with the largest fires getting the most attention. At the same time, the number of human-caused fires is on the rise in Washington. Agency officials are asking people to be very careful undertaking anything that could spark a fire. Even cigarette smoking should be limited to vehicles in wild land areas. “A very large number of wildfires in Washington are being started by people,” said Mary Verner, DNR’s deputy for wildfire. “Because conditions are so bad, common activities like operating farm equipment or target shooting can spark fires that turn into major destructive events. We need everyone to take the utmost care around any activity that might start a wildfire.”