Semi-Truck Fire Ignites Wildland Fire Along I-70 West of Parachute

A semi-truck on fire west of Parachute ignited dry brush along Interstate 70 Thursday afternoon (September 20) forcing the closure of westbound I-70.

The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) and a fire crew responded to a truck fire near Milepost 72 shortly before 2 p.m. on Thursday. They found the fire had spread to multiple locations along the interstate forcing the closure of the highway for about an hour and a half.

Motorists were detoured along Highway 6 to DeBeque until the fires could be extinguished.  CSP reported I-70 westbound was reopened just after 3:30 p.m. There has been no word on what caused the truck to catch on fire.