Firefighters were still working Friday afternoon to extinguish the smoldering remains of a wildfire that started Thursday morning along Highway 5 in Benewah County.

The blaze burned roughly 5 acres of a forested hillside near Benewah Lake before it was contained through a multi-agency effort. No one was injured and no structures were damaged.

For St. Maries Fire Protection District Fire Chief Larry Naccarato, the incident highlights the extreme risk of fire the region is experiencing this summer.

A longtime firefighter who has been chief of the St. Maries fire district for 11 years, Naccarato said he has never seen conditions like they are now.

"This is something similar to what the 1910 conditions were," Naccarato said, referring to the wildfire known as the "Big Burn," a mid-August blaze that burned about 3 million acres across northeastern Washington, North Idaho and western Montana.

The fire that started Thursday in Naccarato's district was ignited by a vehicle fire. Visitors to the region were traveling along the highway from Heyburn State Park, and their Volkswagen van began smoking. Naccarato said they pulled over in the first wide, graveled roadside area they could find. The van caught fire and ignited dry brush nearby, starting a wildfire that climbed the adjacent hillside.

"Now this was started by people doing something very innocent. It was not their fault. This started on gravel. Think about what happens with fireworks," Naccarato said. "That's how fast these things get out of hand."

Several entities helped battle the blaze, he said. Firefighters from Naccarato's district were joined by fire and rescue personnel from the Potlatch Corporation, Idaho Department of Lands, Plummer, the U.S. Forest Service, an air attack plane from Coeur d'Alene, the Idaho Transportation Department and the Benewah County Sheriff's Office.

"The Bureau of Indian Affairs responded with hand crews," Naccarato said.

He estimates the cost of fighting the blaze on Thursday alone was between $100,000 and $150,000, and by the time it's fully extinguished, the bill will be double that.

Naccarato urges homeowners and others to consider that cost before they decide to ignite fireworks.

"If I light a fire from fireworks, and it goes to your property, should I be held responsible for that? The state and the federal and the cities are not going to say, 'It's OK, you had a bad day,'" Naccarato said. "They will come after you."

There is another kind of toll a fire takes on those who have to fight it, especially on a holiday weekend.

"I love my family, and my firefighters love their families. But we get stuck having to clean it up," he said.

Naccarato said it's particularly worrisome this year because of the tinder-dry conditions. He noted there have been half a dozen "warm spells" since Jan. 1, and the streamflows are at historically low levels.

"This is the first year I can honestly say I'm scared to death of what can and may happen," Naccarato said. "We need rain."

Fire agencies throughout the region have issued warnings that the fire danger level is very high. Stage 1 fire restrictions were imposed last week, and they remain in effect.

Those restrictions ban all burning except for permitted burning and campfires within an approved campground in an approved fire pit. The ban also prohibits smoking in the woods unless it's done inside a vehicle or within a 3-foot diameter circle that has been cleared of all ignitable materials.

In Naccarato's district, all campfires and burning of trash and slash piles has been banned since Wednesday.