Heavy smoke expected to stay

Residents of the Palouse woke up to a sun Tuesday morning that was nothing more than a red dot in the sky.

A shift in winds to the east has blanketed Moscow, Pullman and the surrounding areas with a thick layer of smoke originating from the fires burning in Montana.

"It's going to be here until Thursday, but more likely Friday," said Ron Miller, a meteorologist with the Spokane National Weather Service.

He said another shift in winds to the southwest Friday will lift the heavy layer of smoke, but by no means will the Palouse see blue skies in the near future. The heavy smoke is expected to be replaced by haze coming from fires in Washington and Oregon.

Miller said the southwest wind will return the same hazy sky that residents have seen for the past several weeks.

Miller said Thursday and Friday will bring a welcome light rain. However, with the rain will come a chance of thunderstorms and lightning, meaning there is a possibility of more fires starting near the end of the week.

Reports from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality have prompted the Moscow and Pullman school districts, the University of Idaho and Washington State University to issue air quality warnings. Both universities sent out alerts stating that classes were to continue as scheduled but they recommended students limit their time outdoors.

MSD Superintendent Greg Bailey sent an email to all parents informing them that outdoor recess was being reduced due to the air quality. Bailey advised that parents should consider driving their children to school if their walking time takes longer than 10 minutes.

PSD Communications Coordinator Shannon Focht said the district canceled outdoor recess altogether. She also said a full list of precautions the schools are taking was posted to the PSD website.

The Strychnine Fire that has been burning through U.S. Forest Service land northeast of Harvard since Saturday is only a small contributor to the heavy layer of smoke that has moved in, Miller said.

According to the National Incident Information System, the fire has burned 1,020 acres since it was first reported by Darrell Keim, a Moscow man who had been camping with his wife and daughters at Camp Grizzly over the Labor Day weekend.

Keim said that just after 3 p.m. Saturday he noticed a large, "funny looking cloud" forming over the tree line near the camp. Keim said he was not able to see the flames but he could tell the fire had been burning for a long period of time by the size of the smoke plume.

Keim said he and his family spent the rest of the Saturday watching planes dump fire retardant on the fire and, after the sun set, they hiked to the side of a nearby hill where they were able to watch the growing flames.

Camp Grizzly and Laird Park were evacuated at 7 a.m. Sunday and have remained closed.

Idaho Department of Lands' on-site fire information officer, Karen Sjoquist, reported Tuesday that fire crews had completely surrounded the fire with fire lines.

Latah County Sheriff's Department, the Forest Service and IDL are investigating the cause of the fire, Sjoquist said.

Katie Short can be reached at (208) 883-4633, or by email to kshort@dnews.com.