Alert: Highway to Oregon reopened as fire burns northeast

State officials have reopened the Wallula Junction south of the Tri-Cities as an Oregon wildfire burns northeast away from the road.

Highway 730 was closed as the fire burned in the Columbia River gorge, according to state fire and transportation officials.

The closure does not affect Highway 12, the Washington Department of Transportation confirmed.

The Lake Wallula fire has burned at least 16 square miles in Oregon, mostly on federal land, according the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center’s fire map.

The fire is believed to have started started a couple of miles south of the state line along Highway 730.

The blaze started Sunday and got legs this morning, said fire chief Mike Wickstrom of Walla Walla Fire District 5.

The fire has reached the canyon and is burning out of control, he said. Washington’s fire marshal authorized an 80-person strike team to help Oregon firefighters.

The operation will be based out of Walla Walla Fire 5’s station, with plans to have firefighters rest at Columbia High School in Burbank.

Many Walla Walla firefighters also are helping out.

Today’s extreme heat adds extra danger to firefighters battling the blaze.

This story was originally published July 30, 2018 at 2:28 PM.