The temperatures may have cooled a bit from their record highs of last week, but it’s still dry in the Snoqualmie Valley – VERY dry – and Sunday afternoon drivers along I-90 got an up close-up view of just how quickly a brush fire can start, and spread, due to the tinder-like conditions.
Local firefighters responded to multiple median brush fires along I-90 between the SR 18/I-90 interchange and exit 27 (Snoqualmie Casino), around 4:45PM, Sunday, July 12, 2015 around 4:45PM.
Numerous Snoqualmie Valley residents reported seeing the flames between the Snoqualmie Ridge and Snoqualmie Casino exits. WSDOT said the left lanes of both eastbound and westbound I-90 were closed as crews battled the median fires. Luckily, fire crews knocked the flames down quickly, leaving only the charred median as a reminder. Lanes were reopened around 5:45PM.
Conditions in east King County remain extremely dry, even with a light sprinkling of rain over the weekend. Eastside Fire & Rescue also reported via social media that they responded to a “two-story residential house fire with flames from the roof” in North Bend around 3PM, July 12th.
Fire crews have not stated the cause of Sunday’s median fire.
