Smoke from the region's wildfires continued to affect air quality Monday as firefighting response teams continued to battle multiple blazes throughout North Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Members of the incident management team working on the Ridge Creek Fire spoke Sunday to hundreds of local citizens, many attending a community meeting in Athol in person and others viewing and asking questions via a livestream on the U.S. Forest Service, Idaho Panhandle National Forests’ Facebook page.
The Ridge Creek Fire, which began Aug. 3, involves 4,020 acres of forest system land roughly 3.5 miles east of the north tip of Hayden Lake, along Hayden Creek Road (Forest Service Road 437), from the Ridge Creek drainage south to South Chilco Mountain.
Aircraft are assisting Buckskin 2 Fire crews as they work to get a handle on the wildfire located about eight miles south of the city.
An infrared flight of the fire places the size of the fire at roughly 264 acres, Idaho Panhandle National Forests officials said Monday.
The community is invited to a community meeting Sunday on the Ridge Creek Fire.
The meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. at the Athol Community Center, 30355 Third St. It will also be live-streamed on Facebook at facebook.com/USFSIPNF.