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US 2: Today, from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. US 2 will be fully closed between mileposts 46 to 50 to allow fire crews responding to the Bolt Creek Fire to perform fire mitigation work near the roadway. The road will be fully closed through this area while crews are performing fire mitigation work near the roadway as scheduled until 5 p.m. Due to the nature of this work only incident responders and emergency personnel will be permitted through the closure. Travelers need to plan ahead as no detour is available during this time. The previous travel advisory issued on Oct. 12 reflected a 12 p.m. start time for this closure, however as conditions change, crews need to begin their work earlier. WSDOT remains committed to partnering with the incident management team on this fire and reminds travelers that additional road closures may be necessary should the fire pattern change. Road closure information is posted in the WSDOT real-time travel center and by @wsdot_traffic on Twitter and updates will be provided as available.

Fire Update: Firefighters continue to patrol and monitor containment lines on the southeast and west perimeters of the fire along Hwy 2 to ensure that the fire stays within the burn area. A Structural Protection Group completed assessment plans and remains focused on fire protection, particularly on the east side of Index, to ensure protection is in place should fire become more active. Another day of road preparation and chipper operations took place near Index. Along the highway corridor, crews conducted mop-up operations extinguishing residual fire, smokey areas and smoldering stump holes.  The fire will continue to produce smoke as it burns to the north into Wild Sky Wilderness. This predicted fire behavior is not expected to threaten containment lines.

Other Fire Information:  The Murphy Lake Fire began from a lightning strike on August 18. It is burning about 2 ½ miles southeast of Scenic WA in Wilderness administered by the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near Murphy Lakes and is visible from Hwy 2. Fire behavior has become more active over the ridge tops with minimal movement as it slowly backs down the steep slopes. Warm and dry weather conditions will increase fire activity during the day with flare-ups during the afternoon hours. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCTA) is closed between Deception Lakes (mile 2447.5) and Hope Lake (mile 2457) due to the Murphy Lake fire. For more information: Pacific Crest Trail Facebook Page. The Surprise Lake trail that begins off of Hwy 2 and the Trap Pass Trail are also closed.  Fire officials will continue to monitor the fire situation.

Weather: Warm and dry weather conditions will continue. Wind will be slightly breezy this morning and weaken into the afternoon. Ongoing elevated temperatures and low relative humidity will continue to influence fire behavior.

Smoke Information: Current information on air quality may be found at Washington Smoke Blog at https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/

Forest Closure: The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has implemented an Emergency Closure on National Forest lands. Roads, trails, and campgrounds are closed. To read the closure in its entirety, please see:  MBSNF Bolt Creek Fire Closure. A burn ban remains in effect until significant rain is received.

The USFS Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) report for the Bolt Creek Fire can be found on the Inciweb page: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/news/8429/.