North Cascades Highway reopens as wildfire that forced closure continues to grow
The Washington Department of Transportation on Friday announced North Cascades Highway traffic has resumed after a wildfire forced recent closures of the northernmost pass between Eastern and Western Washington.
Fire crews have spent the last week clearing debris from the highway, which was closed Sunday because of the Easy Fire. The wildfire has grown to cover 410 acres in eastern Skagit County near the Whatcom County line, the WSDOT announced Friday in a social media post.
The road reopened at 1 p.m. Friday near Granite Creek (mileposts 148-157). Crews continue fire migration efforts, so the road will not be completely open. A flagger system and pilot cars are in place to control traffic daily from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Traffic delays are expected to be about 30 minutes, according to WSDOT. Motorists are asked to be careful in the area, to not pull off the highway between mileposts 148 and 157, and to be aware of fire response and maintenance crews throughout the passes.
The Easy Fire was still 0% contained as of Friday.
This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 1:48 PM.
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