VIDEO: Wildfires across western Colorado are causing significant impacts to travel along Interstate 70. Those fires were reported in Garfield, Eagle, and Moffat Counties, and pre-evacuation orders are in place in Garfield County.
The westbound lanes of I-70 were closed near Gypsum, according to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, but they have since reopened as of 4:40 p.m. Thursday. The eastbound lanes remained open through those firefighting efforts. There were also numerous fires with heavy smoke visible initially reported near Dotsero, but they were largely extinguished by Thursday evening.
The fire in Garfield County, which is being called the Hilltop Fire, was reported just after 3:30 p.m. and the Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority said a pre-evacuation order was sent to residences more than 1 mile and within 2 miles of the intersection of County Road 320 and County Road 309. According to Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center (RMACC) the Hilltop Fire was burning more than 370 acres. According to the sheriff’s office, it had 5% containment.
And just before 2 p.m., a fire was reported on Highway 40 near milepost 25 in Moffat County near the town of Dinosaur, just east of the Colorado-Utah state line, according to the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office. Aretesia Fire, Moffat County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Land Management were responding to that fire. According to the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center (RMACC), the Horse Draw Fire was burning more than 800 acres. There was no immediate containment information Thursday night.
