SANDPOINT — The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has extended its air quality advisory for North Idaho through Sunday.  

The initial advisory issued Thursday included Kootenai, Shoshone, Bonner and Benewah counties. Boundary County was added to the latest advisory on Friday.  

The weekend’s air quality is forecasted to remain “unhealthy for sensitive groups” due to high concentrations of PM2.5, a fire atmospheric particulate matter attributed primarily to wildfire smoke.  

People with heart or lung conditions, older adults, children and teens can be particularly sensitive to PM2.5, according to AirNow.  On Friday evening, the air quality index in Bonner County was 145 while in Boundary County, the AQI was 94. In Kootenai County, the AQI was 108; in Shoshone County, the AQI was 86, and in Benewah County, the AQI was 90.

The agency advises those in sensitive groups to “reduce your exposure by choosing less strenuous activities or shortening the amount of time you are active outdoors.” 

The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho in Boundary County also announced a ban on open burning on the tribal reservation amid air quality concerns in the region. 

The burn ban applies to all outdoor burning within the external boundaries of the reservation, regardless of land ownership or tribal membership. 

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe is similarly following the open burning ban in place from IDEQ, as the reservation is bordered by both Kootenai and Benewah counties. 

Smoke from several massive fires to the northeast of Vancouver is being pushed south into the Inland Northwest by wind conditions, according to the latest forecasts from AirNow. 

Over 160 active fires have burned nearly 18 million acres in Canada this year, the latest data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows. 

The largest active fires in North Idaho, the Lightning Creek Fire in Bonner County and the Ulm Creek Fire at the Idaho/Montana border, are each sitting at over 2,000 acres. Several active fires in northeastern Washington have burned thousands of acres. 

The Air Quality Advisory may be extended into next week, DEQ officials said.

To check air quality conditions, go to the EPA AirNow website.