Spring cleaning may have to wait.

That includes a prescribed burn at Tubbs Hill.

Several state and local agencies are asking property owners to refrain from burning garden, yard and field waste in the wake of COVID-19 concerns.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Idaho Department of Lands, and Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, as well as fire departments are asking the public to refrain from nonessential open burning.

That means lawn clippings, leaves, garden vines, plants, old smudgy pumpkins and trimmed hedge material should be mulched, composted, chipped or taken to a landfill.

The concerns affected a planned burn next month at Tubbs Hill that was meant to reinvigorate the landscape.

“Due to the current precautions in place … (the) fire department has decided to cancel this event,” Craig Etherton of the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department said. “The health of Tubbs Hill and the safety of our residents is a priority.”

Smoke, especially the heavy lingering kind, can trigger asthma and respiratory stress.

“This is basically a respiratory illness and those elderly and more susceptible who have underlying conditions should stay away from asthma triggers,” Mary Anderson of DEQ said. “Smoke and open burning can be among those.”

In addition, protective equipment to reduce smoke exposure could be difficult to obtain for people with sensitivities.

Although IDL doesn’t normally monitor burning in rural areas until May — when the lands department begins requiring burn permits — Sharla Arledge of IDL said limiting burning allows fire personnel to focus on emergency calls.

Fire departments and fire wardens often respond to smoke calls to ensure fires are not out of control. Burn permits allow departments to know who is burning, and what fires are permitted or contained.

“So they don’t have to run out every call,” Arledge said.

Etherton said emergency personnel in contact with sick people may require being quarantined, which could reduce staff.

“We are concerned about manpower right now, and since (a burn) is manpower intensive, we didn’t know who would be available to us, if some of our people had to be quarantined,” he said.

Agencies say essential burning should be limited to daylight hours between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. and only dry materials should be burned. Materials such as household garbage and plastics are prohibited from being burned, and fires should be avoided if winds exceed 12 mph.

Alternatives to burning — such as using landfills — should be used, Anderson said.

“Don’t burn anything that can be delayed,” she said. “There is a lot of burning that can be done later.”