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UPDATE: I-70 open in both directions after fire near Wolcott snarls traffic for hours

Closures snarl traffic and delay school pickups

Motorists spent hours stuck in traffic Thursday on Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 6 after a wildfire broke out around 1:25 p.m. near Wolcott.

The extended shutdowns of both major arteries through Eagle County left a snarl of traffic in both directions and disrupted bus routes and school pickups. A number of students were kept at local schools, supervised, while parents stuck on the opposite side of the road closures found themselves with no way through.

The westbound lanes of Interstate 70 reopened as of 4:38 p.m., but eastbound I-70 didn’t reopen until 8:47 p.m. Thursday. A single lane closure is in effect from from mile points 151-153. Highway 6 is expected to remain closed overnight from mile points 150-157 due to damaged power poles resulting from a wildfire caused by a vehicle crash on US 6. 



Department spokeswoman Elise Thatcher in an email earlier in the evening reported that road crews were “working hard” to avoid an overnight closure of I-70.

The road closure gridlocked traffic in Eagle, delaying responses to other emergencies.

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In a text message, Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek wrote that officers are “managing to get through” the gridlock “much slower than usual, but we’re getting through.”

Eagle County Paramedic Services Public Information Officer Katie Coakley said the district, which has five stations up and down the valley, was able to continue operations, even providing an ambulance to the fire area. Coakley noted that anyone needing hospitalization east of the fire would be taken to Vail Health Hospital. People west of the fire would be taken to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs.

Smoke fills the air Thursday on U.S. Highway 6 near Wolcott after a fire broke out between the highway and Interstate 70.
Colorado Department of Transportation/Courtesy photo

Matthew Miano with the Eagle County School District said officials were actively monitoring the situation when reached around 5 p.m.

“We will keep kids at school as long as they need to, and make sure they are supervised,” he said.

The fire is being called the Eagle River Fire, and was estimated just past 2 p.m. to be about 5 to 7 acres in size, according to a Facebook post by the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit.

The burn started on the south side of the I-70 eastbound lanes in the grasses between the interstate and Highway 6.

Detours are sending travelers north along Colorado Highway 131, U.S. Highway 40 and Colorado State Highway 13; as well as south along Colorado State Highway 82 then U.S. Highway 24.

Traffic stacks up Thursday afternoon along U.S. Highway 6 and Interstate 70 near the Wolcott exit. Motorists spent hours taking detours and fighting gridlock.
Raymond A. Bleesz/Courtesy photo

Parts of Eagle, Edwards, Lake Creek and all of Wolcott may experience power outages, according to an Eagle County Alert.

Firefighters responded to the blaze while air firefighting resources included a single-seat fixed-wing air tanker and a helicopter. About 75 people from several regional fire agencies responded. At one point there were 10 fire trucks on the scene. People from the Greater Eagle Fire Protection District, Eagle River Fire District, Gypsum Fire, and Eagle Valley Wildland were all on the scene. Other responding agencies included Vail Fire, Leadville Fire, Aspen Fire, Grand Fire, DeBeque Fire, Carbondale & Rural Fire District, the Summit Fire Authority, the Red, White and Blue Fire District, and the Upper Colorado Interagency Fire Management Unit.

The U.S. Forest Service, Eagle Police Department, Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, the Colorado Department of Transportation, and Eagle County Paramedics also responded to the incident.

Suppression and mop-up activities continued just past 6 p.m. The closure is in place on I-70 from mile points 147-157. Highway 6 is closed at mile points 150-157.

For the most updated traffic information, visit COTrip.org.

The Eagle River Fire began around 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7, and is burning near mile marker 155 on U.S. Highway 6 between Wolcott and Eagle.
Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit/Courtesy photo

Scott Miller, Ali Longwell and Shelby Reardon contributed reporting.


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