Hearse carrying a body comes to a rest ‘teetering’ over a 100-foot embankment after sliding off I-70 near Silverthorne

A hearse that slid off Interstate 70 in snowy conditions stopped just shy of tipping over a ledge, with its front wheels hanging in the air at around 3 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 27, according to Summit Fire & EMS.

“Okay, file this one under: ‘You’ll never believe it,’” the fire and rescue agency quipped in a Facebook post.

After going off the road near mile marker 212 between Silverthorne and the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, the hearse, which was carrying a body for medical donation, “came to rest teetering over a 100-foot-high embankment,” according to the post.

The driver declined medical attention and transport. But, Summit Fire & EMS joked in the post: “If the ‘passenger’ hadn’t already been dead, this surely would have done it.”

Summit Fire & EMS spokesperson Steve Lipsher said the responding crews stabilized the vehicle so it didn’t tip over the ledge while waiting for a tow truck. Silverthorne police also assisted.

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In the Facebook post, the fire and rescue group praised the decision for medical donation, saying it could save someone’s life, and apologized if any offense was caused by their “irreverence.”

“We like to share these bright moments as well,” Lipsher said. Though, even he acknowledged in the post that the scene — a black hearse against the swirling white snow, hanging over a steep ledge in the dead of night — was more “creepy” than bright.

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