Still-creeping wildfire again closes key mountain pass in North Cascades National Park
Highway 20 was closed again Thursday because of the wildfire that’s burning in the North Cascades National Park.
“SR 20 North Cascades Highway is closed between Newhalem at milepost 120 and milepost 146 for aerial fire operations. No ETA for reopening. Updates will be sent as available,” the Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Highway 20 is the state’s northernmost route linking Eastern and Western Washington.
Some 1,500 cars a day use the road over the Cascades crest, WSDOT told The Bellingham Herald.
WSDOT closed the road last week because of the fire and allowed drivers to use it Wednesday, warning that it could close again.
Officials with the National Interagency Fire Center said the fire had burned 1,809 acres and was 5% contained through Wednesday.
No injuries have been reported and no buildings have been damaged as the fire creeps slowly through understory on steep terrain.
Fire crews have been laying hose, clearing brush and taking other steps to protect the Ross Lake Resort, the campus of the North Cascades Environmental Leaning Center, power-generation facilities for Seattle City Light and the small village of Diablo.
Helicopters dropping water are being used to slow the fire’s spread, but officials managing the incident think it could burn until the rains return in fall.
Many trails and campgrounds in the area are closed.
The fire began in late July after a lightning strike.
