Officials say Bolt Creek Fire was caused by humans

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — The Bolt Creek Fire, which started on Sept. 10 north of Skykomish, was caused by humans, according to officials.

The fire continues to burn.

In its Sunday morning wildfire brief, the Northwest Coordination Center had changed the cause of the fire from “undetermined“ to “human.”

Team spokes person Amanda Monthei told the Herald no further details were known.

“In this case, there was no lightning in the area, so while it was undetermined for a while, the likelihood of it having been human-caused was high,” Monthei told the Herald. “This is confirming what we more or less expected.”

Meanwhile, U.S. 2 reopened in the Skykomish area Sunday night after it was closed Sunday afternoon due to the ongoing Bolt Creek Fire.

However, U.S. 2 closed once again between mileposts 45 and 48 (from Grotto to Fifth Street) at 10 a.m. on Monday so a tree can be removed.

Officials had previously reopened 4 miles of U.S. 2 between mileposts 46 and 50, which is between Northeast Old Cascade Highway and Skykomish, with reduced speed limits on Thursday.

All evacuation orders for the Bolt Creek Fire were lifted for residents in Snohomish and King counties as of 8 a.m. Saturday, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Evacuation orders were at Level 3 and Level 2 for some areas near the fire, which was estimated to have burned 12,486 acres as of Sunday night.

On Tuesday, firefighters said they had completed 96% of their work to set up containment lines along U.S. 2 and smaller roads, but the fire itself was still burning toward those lines, so it was not technically contained.

Containment of the fire was at 36% as of Sunday night.

On Tuesday, officials shared photos of some of their structure protection efforts, including digging, handling, laying hoses and setting up sprinkler systems.

While the fire continues to burn and firefighters work to contain it, they said nearby residents should be ready to evacuate if the conditions change.

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