CLARK FORK — A dry cold front is expected to pass through the area today and could ease conditions at the Cougar Fire, according to U.S. Forest Service.

“We’re not going to see very much — if any — rain come out of it all, but we will see a big drop in temperatures. We’ll see our humidities come up and that is going be a really big help,” Forest Service incident meteorologist Ryan Leach said during a community meeting on Thursday.

Local air quality has been hovering in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s unhealthy rating, although the change in weather could bring some relief from the omnipresent smoke, according to Melissa Hovey, an air quality resource advisor for the Forest Service.

Hovey urged against use of wood-burning stoves and avoid vacuuming as it stirs up particulates.

“It may be a little counterintuitive and it may be uncomfortable, but we actually want to keep those windows closed at night. That is when the smoke is heaviest and most dense and settles down in those drainages and concentrations can actually be highest at night,” Hovey added.

Jon Teutrine, operations section chief, said Thursday’s conditions did increase activity.

“The good news is most of that activity is moving away from the community on the back side of the fire,” said Teutrine.

Teutrine said Wellington Creek drainage is being utilized as a control feature and crews are keeping a close eye on Lightning Creek.

“One of our concerns as this spreads is that it spots outside of our control lines back across Lightning Creek. We have some hose lays and sprinkler kits in there and we have engines in place that are monitoring the spread,” he said.

Bob Howard, director of Bonner County Emergency Management, and Sheriff Daryl Wheeler strongly recommended that residents sign up for Nixle, a free public notification system that delivers alerts and instructions to mobile phones and computers.

The county also utilizes Everybridge, a reverse-calling system that gives residents instructions in the event of an evacuation. Bonner County utilizes a three-stage evacuation alert telling residents to get ready (plan to evacuate), set (be ready to evacuate) and go (evacuate).

“When you get to the ‘set’ portion of that evacuation plan, you’ll get notifications from Everbridge and Nixle with instructions.

“You’ll also have sheriff’s deputies coming to your door,” Howard said.

Wheeler said Nixle is a more reliable option than land-line notifications. “That equipment is so old that it can’t handle the amount of calls that will have to be made for you to be notified if you need to get the heck out of Dodge,” said Wheeler.

Acting Sandpoint District Ranger Will Young also urge resident to heed area closure orders and acknowledged that forest access is sensitive subject.

“That’s not something that we do lightly. That is in place purely because how dangerous it is in there right now,” Young said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.