On Sunday night, a mudslide buried a section of State Route 20 in the North Cascades that has been closed due to wildfire activity.
At around 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, after nearly 2 inches of rain fell, a large mudslide occurred near mile marker 152 of SR 20, southeast of Diablo Lake. The highway has been closed intermittently between Granite Creek and Rainy Pass because of hazards related to the Easy Fire, which was sparked by lightning on July 17.
The fire currently covers a little more than 2,000 acres and is 0% contained due to steep terrain, but thanks to recent and forecasted precipitation, crews are now assessing how to safely perform fire suppression activities.
Washington Department of Transportation estimated that the slide, which covered approximately 100 feet of the road with debris, will take at least two days to clean up. Road conditions will be reevaluated on Wednesday, Aug. 14. WSDOT will post updates on X (Twitter) @wsdot_east.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
