On a day when fire restrictions were heightened due to drought, smoke Wednesday on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation sent alarms to the Worley Fire District.

However, a smoke check by fire crews revealed it was the first day of field burning on the reservation and not a wildfire.

A district employee told The Press the Tribe generally notifies the fire district if field burning will occur, but that didn't happen on Wednesday.

Messages left with multiple employees of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe on Wednesday afternoon seeking comment about its field burning program this year hadn't been returned as of deadline.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality regulates field burning on non-tribal lands.

Ralph Paul, IDEQ's airshed coordinator, said, as of Wednesday, just one field was requested to be burned outside the reservation this year in Kootenai County.

The field is 30 acres south of Coeur d’Alene and just north of the reservation. Paul said the field is not yet on the burn schedule because the owner, who is new to field burning, hasn't met all of the requirements to perform the practice aimed at increasing crop yields or destroying weeds.

"Since the smoke (from wildfires in the region and Canada) has cleared out, now the farmers are wanting their crops done," Paul said. "If they're going to attempt to burn, they'll start registering now.”

Paul said there hasn't been field burning on the Rathdrum Prairie, historically a common area for the practice, for the past two years.

The air quality in most of North Idaho was classified by IDEQ as good on Wednesday.

"The wind has blown most of the smoke out," Paul said.

It was moderate in Boundary County due to smoke from Canada.

Dry weather and warm temperatures are expected to persist into the weekend.

The Stage 2 fire restrictions implemented Wednesday will remain in effect until further notice. No campfires are allowed.

The restrictions also limit smoking to an enclosed vehicle or building, designated recreation site or while stopped in an area at least 3 feet in diameter that is cleared of all flammable materials.

Operating chain saws or motorized recreational vehicles off designated roads and trails between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m. are also not allowed.