Roads open as Washington Fire is 66% contained

Cooler temperatures and an increase in humidity have allowed firefighters working on the Washington Fire to make good progress, getting a line around 66% of the fire area.

Burning since June 19 in the hilly terrain south of Markleville, the lightning caused fire has burned 17,790 acres.

Because of the threat of more fires throughout the west, a few hundred fire personnel have been sent back to their home stations. Once numbering 1,111, there are now 764 remain on the scene, with more expected to leave in next couple of days. Those fire crews remaining have continued to construct direct fire lines on the northern and southern portions of the fire while crews assigned to the eastern and western side continued to mop up and extinguish any hot spots that they encountered.

All state highways through the fire are currently open to through traffic. This includes State Highway 4 over Ebbetts Pass and State Highway 89, east over Monitor Pass to Highway 395. The fire area is still under a Forest Service closure and is not accessible to the general public; however, both the BLM area closure and the Indian Creek Campground closure were lifted at 8:00 a.m. today.

Law enforcement will continue patrolling the fire area and will issue citations to non-fire individuals found in the closure area. The public is encouraged to use caution when traveling on State Highway 4 and 89 as fire crews will continue to be active along the roadways throughout the fire area.