Commercial Highway US 2 reopens following Bolt Creek Fire.

Gold bar, wash. – Around 10 a.m. Saturday, WSDOT crews reopened US 2 to traffic. The reopening of the road follows a two-week closure due to the Bolt Creek fire.

The Bolt Creek Fire started on September 10th. Investigators still don’t know the cause of the fire.

Officials are still working to contain the fire, which is now estimated at 10,599 acres.

Previous Cover: The Bolt Creek Fire near Skykomish is 96% contained; US 2 will reopen on September 24.

The road reopened Saturday morning, although crews worked along US 2.

“Business is down, but we’ve done this so we can handle the weather, pretty much, any kind of storm. It’s going to be good, it’s good, the traffic is good,” Devon Weitz said. .

Wetzel is co-owner of Sand Bar Tavern in Gold Bar.

The business sits just off US 2, and Wetzel said most of his customers are people who have passed through. So the last two weeks have been a challenge.

However, despite not seeing as many customers, Wetzel said they still stayed in business.

“Kittytas Fire was in our parking lot for the better part of a week. So we just came here. I was here around 9, 10 in the morning, even though it didn’t open until noon. Just to give them a hand if they needed it, a cup of coffee, a bathroom, you know, a place to cool off.” It’s just a place,” he said.

Wetzel said he felt good about being able to provide some comfort to the crews who had been working long days to fight the fire.

Also read: Wildfire Smoke: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home from Hazardous Air Quality

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“If they are willing to help, we should be willing to do our part to help,” he said.

Although US 2 is open, officials are asking drivers to slow down.

They should also be careful in the area where the fire started and expect occasional smoke on the road and fire on the hill.

If you experience these conditions, turn on your headlights and proceed slowly without stopping.