Wildfire forces temporary closure of northbound I-5 near Kent, burns backyards of homes

KENT, Wash. --  A wildfire broke out Tuesday afternoon along northbound Interstate 5 just south of the Kent-Des Moines Road and raced up the slope to a sound wall, with some embers burning some backyards of homes on the other side, Puget Sound Fire said.

"Apparently no homes affected yet," Puget Sound Fire tweeted. "Many burned spots in backyards. Great job by homeowners."

WSDOT said all lanes of northbound I-5 in Kent were blocked to allow crews to fight the fire, and said northbound drivers should not use I-5. It later announced that it had reopened two lanes but that backups went on for miles.



No injuries were reported.

Earlier, Puget Sound Fire had tweeted that some homes were threatened.



The smoke from the fire forced authorities to close the northbound lanes of I-5 just south of State Route 516 so that firefighters would battle the blaze. The closure led to miles-long backups on I-5.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.