Easy Fire burning near North Cascades Highway

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The SR 20 North Cascades Highway closed between mileposts 148 and 158 due to wildfire, with no current estimate for reopening and advised alternatives being US 2 or I-90. (WSDOT)

The SR 20 North Cascades Highway reopened after an overnight closure due to a wildfire burning near the road.

According to Inciweb, the Easy Fire was sparked by dry lightning storms on July 17. It has grown to 300 acres.

WSDOT said the highway was fully closed as of July 18 between Granite Creek at milepost 148 and a point just east of the Rainy Pass Trail Head at milepost 158.

Trooper Kelsey Harding of the Washington State Patrol confirmed the closure on social media, citing the wildfires as the reason for the shutdown of SR 20.

WSDOT advised travelers to use alternate routes such as US 2 or I-90 for cross-state travel. They also pointed out that there is currently no estimated time for when the road will reopen.

The fire is located 18 miles west of Mazama. At time of writing, about 35 firefighters are battling the flames.

The Easy Fire is not far from the Pioneer Fire along Lake Chelan which is expected to continue burning through Halloween. According to Inciweb, the Pioneer Fire has grown to more than 25,000 acres. Nearly 800 firefighters are on scene and the fire is only about 14% contained.