Growing Wildfire Shuts Down I-70 Through Glenwood Canyon

[Bacle]

The Grizzly Creek Fire has shutdown I-70 through Glenwood Canyon for the last several days, and is growing.




Amateur video of the start of the fire, which seems to have been started by sparks from the highway.


They've already got another massive fire west of there north of Grand Junction which is adding to the smoke in town, and force residents to stay inside with the windows shut.

The location of this fire has made fighting it a nightmare. It's in shutdown a choke-point in the interstate highway system that is hard to route around. The highway may be closed till it is contained; it is at 0% containment for now because of harsh terrain and dry weather.

It has already cause one other route out of the area to be shutdown, Independence Pass, which is adding to problems. Dumbass truckers though tried to take their rigs through a barely two-lane pass that goes into Aspen, which has no room for big-rigs to maneuver in town.

Independence Pass Closed Indefinitely Due To Grizzly Creek Fire, Heavy Traffic

The Colorado Department of Transportation announced the closure of Highway 82 over Independence Pass on Wednesday afternoon due to heavy traffic and safety concerns.

denver.cbslocal.com

This is going to be a massive problem for Western Colorado, as that is the main artery in and out of the mountains. There are alternate routes out/around, but those are several hours/several hundred miles out of the way.

Edit: Also, a portion of one of the large Amtrack routes is through this canyon and they are having to reroute trains as well.

Edit 2: Worth mentioning the Shoshone -hydro-power station in the canyon is a big source of power for that part of the state, and it being shutdown is not going to make things any easier for folks in the area.

 

[UltimatePaladin]

The Grizzly Creek Fire has shutdown I-70 through Glenwood Canyon for the last several days, and is growing.




Amateur video of the start of the fire, which seems to have been started by sparks from the highway.


They've already got another massive fire west of there north of Grand Junction which is adding to the smoke in town, and force residents to stay inside with the windows shut.

The location of this fire has made fighting it a nightmare. It's in shutdown a choke-point in the interstate highway system that is hard to route around. The highway may be closed till it is contained; it is at 0% containment for now because of harsh terrain and dry weather.

It has already cause one other route out of the area to be shutdown, Independence Pass, which is adding to problems. Dumbass truckers though tried to take their rigs through a barely two-lane pass that goes into Aspen, which has no room for big-rigs to maneuver in town.

Independence Pass Closed Indefinitely Due To Grizzly Creek Fire, Heavy Traffic

The Colorado Department of Transportation announced the closure of Highway 82 over Independence Pass on Wednesday afternoon due to heavy traffic and safety concerns.

denver.cbslocal.com

This is going to be a massive problem for Western Colorado, as that is the main artery in and out of the mountains. There are alternate routes out/around, but those are several hours/several hundred miles out of the way.

Edit: Also, a portion of one of the large Amtrack routes is through this canyon and they are having to reroute trains as well.

Edit 2: Worth mentioning the Shoshone -hydro-power station in the canyon is a big source of power for that part of the state, and it being shutdown is not going to make things any easier for folks in the area.

Geez... thanks for the heads up.

 

[Laskar]

Edit: Also, a portion of one of the large Amtrack routes is through this canyon and they are having to reroute trains as well.

Edit 2: Worth mentioning the Shoshone -hydro-power station in the canyon is a big source of power for that part of the state, and it being shutdown is not going to make things any easier for folks in the area.

How easy is it to fight that fire? Colorado is a little high, so I wonder if firefighting planes have trouble getting into those canyons.

 

[Bacle]

How easy is it to fight that fire? Colorado is a little high, so I wonder if firefighting planes have trouble getting into those canyons.

Firefighting aircraft don't have too many issues, but they have multiple other fires in the state and some in Cali they have to deal with.

There are a limited number of heavy firefighting aircraft in the nation and they have to be rationed to keep on top of the worst fires.

They have a Type 1 and Type 3 on the scene, along with helo's and single seaters. But the heat means the altitude density is shit even on top of the normal alt issues in CO, so pilots have to keep on full power for more of the flight, running up wear on the engines and gear.

Fighting this one on the ground would be very dangerous due to the winds coming over the mesa tops cause spot fires ahead of the main body.

This spot on the interstate system was the last finished portion, and has very few decent route-arounds, particularly with the other fires going on. 30% of CO is under air quality warning today, because of how many fires have spring up in the last couple weeks.

 

[Laskar]

They have a Type 1 and Type 3 on the scene, along with helo's and single seaters. But the heat means the altitude density is shit even on top of the normal alt issues in CO, so pilots have to keep on full power for more of the

Congratulations. You've just confused a room full of pilots and line service professionals who refuel those planes for a living. We've never heard the Type 1/2/3 nomenclature before, and it's not on any of the documentation from the tanker base.

It refers to tank capacity, right? 1/2/3 is Light/Medium/Heavy?

There are a limited number of heavy firefighting aircraft in the nation and they have to be rationed to keep on top of the worst fires.

Good news: The Pacific Northwest is seeing a record low number of wildfires,so some of those tankers might be available to help. The other factors you mentioned are going to be a problem, though.

 

[Bacle]

Congratulations. You've just confused a room full of pilots and line service professionals who refuel those planes for a living. We've never heard the Type 1/2/3 nomenclature before, and it's not on any of the documentation from the tanker base.

It refers to tank capacity, right? 1/2/3 is Light/Medium/Heavy?


Good news: The Pacific Northwest is seeing a record low number of wildfires,so some of those tankers might be available to help. The other factors you mentioned are going to be a problem, though.

Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 refer to the level of priority of the fire, which dictates what level of air assets it gets.

Local news often just abreivates aircraft to Type 1, 2, or 3 assets, instead of the actual unit or model type.

I hope we can get more tankers soon, as another large fire started yesterday afternoon, and a new one started near the Henderson molybinum mine/mill this afternoon.

 

[Bacle]

Update:

Independence Pass is back open to normal traffic, no oversized loads. That evac route is now clear again.

Also, this fire may cause lasting damage to Hanging Lake, a major tourist site in the area, and could cause increased erosion in the canyon till it is stabilized.

 

[Bacle]

I-70 has reopened after being shutdown for 2 weeks.

Grizzly Creek Fire: Officials Reopen Interstate 70 Through Glenwood Canyon On 'Limited' Basis

The firefight against a wildfire in Glenwood Canyon continues, but officials now feel good enough about the progress they've made that they've reopened Interstate 70 through the canyon.

denver.cbslocal.com

The fire is still burning north and south, but the have containment lines keeping it out of Glenwood Springs itself and out of Dotsero at the other end of the canyon.