By KEITH RIDLER, Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Heavy winter snow and a very wet spring in the Western U.S. generated predictions the 2017 wildfire season would be tame. But it's shaping up to be one of the worst in U.S. history in land burned.
Across the region, smoky haze in cities and towns prevented people from going outside except for short periods and prompted potential bans of high school football games. In some areas where homes have burned, people have stayed in makeshift shelters for weeks.
Some of the biggest fires this year started in early September, when the wildfire season usually starts winding down.
A look at the impact of the fires across the region:
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IDAHO
High school soccer games have been canceled this week because of smoky air — and now football stadiums could remain vacant for the biggest games this Friday night.
That's because Idaho air quality is so bad in some places that children and teens must be kept indoors and activities like football and soccer must be avoided, said the state Department of Health and Welfare.
"There would be a lot of disappointed kids and disappointed parents if games are canceled," said Kathleen Tuck, spokeswoman for the Nampa School District in southwestern Idaho. "But our top priority is the safety of our students."
Northern Idaho residents are now breathing some of the worst air in the U.S. with an air quality indicator over 460 Thursday morning. A rating above 150 is considered unhealthy and levels above 300 are hazardous, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The smoky air hasn't affected Idaho's important farming sector because most crops have been harvested and the fall planting season has not started yet.
But "you look outside and it's like a thick fog. It's definitely impacting our sports, football and everything. Practices have been in the gym," said Kim Johnson, community relations manager at St. Mary's Hospital in the northern prairie city of Cottonwood.
Her sister last year was hospitalized with respiratory failure from wildfire smoke, recovered and "learned her lesson this year," Johnson said.
The hospital itself is serving as a safe haven for people having trouble breathing and who show up to hangout because it has air conditioning and a cafeteria.
"We've pretty much had people in every day," Johnson said.
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MONTANA
Ted Linford doesn't like to leave the filtered air inside his home for long, but stepped outside Thursday for some bow practice just in case the hazardous air stubbornly clinging to the town of Seeley Lake lifts while there's still some hunting season left.
Seeley Lake, in a valley next to the Bob Marshall Wilderness, usually empties of summer tourists and fills up with hunters at this time of the year. But this year has been anything but normal because of the thick smoke surrounding the area.
"It's like a ghost town," Linford said. "It's more like winter, when you just see local people."
Air quality hurt by a wildfire burning less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Seeley Lake got so bad that health officials last month recommended that people sleep elsewhere. Most of the town of 1,600 was evacuated when the fire threatened to spread from the ridge where it was burning.