Wildfire in Glenwood Canyon more than 1,300 acres; I-70 to remain closed overnight
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The plume of the wildfire at Bair Ranch in Glenwood Canyon is visible from Missouri Heights Monday afternoon. Midvalley residents were on edge when the plume materialized because the fire seemed much closer to Missouri Heights.
Scott Condon/The Aspen Times
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The fire burning Monday in Glenwood Canyon has closed Interstate 70.
Courtesy Glenwood Springs Fire Department
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The fire plume from the wildfire in Glenwood Canyon as it appeared Monday from Highway 133 in Carbondale.
Jack Rafferty/courtesy photo
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The 120 Fire is burning Monday in the Glenwood Canyon and has Interstate 70 closed in both directions.
Courtesy Glenwood Springs Fire Department
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Fire crews stand on westbound Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon on Monday as they fight the Grizzly Creek Fire.
Glenwood Springs Fire Department courtesy photo
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Smoke from the Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon billows over the Glenwood Springs Adventure Park on Monday afternoon.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
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A man watches from the Grand Avenue Pedestrian Bridge as smoke billows from the Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon on Monday afternoon.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
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People float down the Colorado River as smoke billows from the Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon on Monday afternoon.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
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Smoke billows from the canyon walls as the Grizzly Creek Fire exploads in Glenwood Canyon on Monday afternoon.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
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firemap
Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon east of Glenwood Springs was to remain closed in both directions through Monday night into Tuesday, as firefighters continued to battle the Grizzly Creek Fire that broke out along the freeway earlier in the day.
The fire started about 1:30 p.m. Monday in the median between the eastbound lanes and the elevated westbound lanes at mile marker 120, near the Grizzly Creek Rest and Recreation area.
By early evening, about 60 firefighters and numerous aircraft had responded to the 1,300-acre wildfire, located about five miles east of Glenwood Springs, fire officials reported on the incident command website set up by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. There are no immediate threats to structures and no evacuations are in place, according to an 11 p.m. update Monday.
Grizzly Creek Fire operations, which are mostly from the air, concluded for Monday night and are to begin again Tuesday morning, fire incident command advised at about 8:30 p.m. in its final Facebook post for the evening.
“The (I-70) safety closure is to allow CDOT specialists to assess two bridges located near where the Grizzly Creek Fire started, as well as increased rockfall hazard in Glenwood Canyon,” according to a CDOT press release issued at 7:45 p.m. Monday.
Rockfall from the fire area already had been reported, and is likely due to burned vegetation no longer holding rocks in place, CDOT advised in the release.
The Interstate 70 closure has been extended in both directions between mile markers 116 (Glenwood Springs) and 140 (Gypsum).
At about 5:38 p.m. the Grizzly Creek Fire Facebook page said the Grizzly Creek Fire had grown to 1,300 acres with more than 60 firefighters on scene. Firefighters were using heavy air attack with four heavy air tankers, two single engine air tankers (SEAT) and a Type I and Type III helicopter.
David Boyd, Public Information Officer for the interagency response, said the fire is burning mostly on U.S. Forest Service Land on the north side of Interstate 70.
The Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit has taken lead on the incident, but multiple local and federal emergency response agencies are involved, Boyd said.
“That is super-rugged country, so it’s not a place we can safely put firefighters on the ground, so we have been fighting it from the air,” he said.
The large plum of smoke is visible from parts the Roaring Fork Valley and as far west as Rifle.
Scott Condon/The Aspen Times
Several rafters and guides had to be evacuated from the different parts of the canyon when the fire broke out, and hikers were escorted down from Hanging Lake and shuttled to the east side of Glenwood Canyon.
“Our number one goal was to get everyone off the trail as soon as we heard about the fire, because it’s a 45-minute hike back down,” said Ken Murphy, co-owner of H2O Ventures, which runs the Hanging Lake hiking permit reservation system.
Hikers are currently limited to 200 per day due to the COVID-19 restrictions, and no shuttle is in service. Murphy did not immediately know how many hikers were on the trail at the time the fire broke out.
Once to their cars in the trailhead parking lot, Colorado Department of Transportation crews worked to get motorists redirected onto eastbound I-70. There’s only a westbound entrance to I-70 from Hanging Lake, Murphy noted.
“We have an emergency plan in place for just something like this, and it worked,” he said. “We were cleared and done pretty quickly, and got everyone out safe.”
- For westbound travelers: US 24 to US 285 to Poncha Springs, where motorists can turn west on US 50, which reaches I-70 in Grand Junction
- For eastbound travelers: US 50 to Poncha Springs, turn left onto US 285 to US 24, which reaches I-70 between Avon and Vail.
- Motorists can take a northern detour of CO 131 to US 40 to CO 139. CO 13 is open at this time, but not recommended due to construction. **CDOT asks that motorists *not* use Cottonwood Pass, due to fire activity.**
Hikers were also asked to leave the Grizzly Creek and No Name trails located in Glenwood Canyon as the fire began to spread.
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park shut down Monday afternoon due to impacts from the fire, park co-owner Steve Beckley said.
“We kept having power outages that affected the rides, so we sent everyone down,” he said. “We will be open (Tuesday).”
City of Glenwood Springs spokeswoman Hannah Klausman confirmed that the fire initially knocked out power in Glenwood Springs. She said the city was able to work with Xcel Energy to circuit around the fire area, and the power was restored shortly before 3 p.m.
Glenwood Springs Fire Department initially responded to the wildfire at mile marker 120 on eastbound Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon at about 1:30 p.m. The interstate was soon closed in both directions.
Evacuations were in progress for Bair Ranch and Grizzly Creek, mostly involving motorists stopped at the two rest areas and people using the river access and trails in the area.
The fire quickly burned from the median to the north side of I-70 and rapidly spread up the steep hillside in the canyon.
One helicopter initially responded to the scene, followed by four heavy air tankers.
CDOT strongly advises that Cottonwood Pass is not an alternate route for any type of vehicle, and that Highway 82 over Independence Pass has a prohibition on vehicles over 35 feet in length, including semis.
Due to the interstate closure, LIFT-UP canceled its Carbondale food distribution Monday afternoon. Distributions are still scheduled for Tuesday in Parachute, Wednesday in New Castle and Thursday in Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, according to a press release.
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