A wildfire has forced the closure of Blewett Pass on U.S Highway 97.
The fire has burned close to the highway, and the state Department of Transportation announced the closure of a 27-mile stretch of the highway on Wednesday. The highway is closed from milepost 150 at the junction with state Route 970 to milepost 177, 8 miles south of the junction with U.S. 2.
The agency did not say when the highway might reopen.
Thousands of firefighters are battling dozens of wildfires that were sparked by lightning earlier this month in central Washington. In Kittitas County, authorities ordered new evacuations northwest of Ellensburg due to a handful of fires that have grown to cover 11,590 acres, or 18 square miles.
The Associated Press
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