The past 24 hours have been wildly unpredictable on the I-70 mountain corridor.
Around sunrise today a pickup truck rear-ended a motorcycle just past Exit 205 in Silverthorne. Colorado State Patrol confirms one person was sent to the hospital. Westbound traffic was jammed up with I-70 down to one lane for more than two hours.
Yesterday afternoon a nasty work zone pileup closed westbound I-70 at Vail Pass for more than three hours. One person was seriously injured when a box truck slammed into five other vehicles halted for rock scaling, according to state patrol.
Early investigations shows the driver of the box truck, a 34-year-old Texas man, was distracted when he swerved to avoid the closure. His passenger was the one seriously injured. He and three others suffered minor injuries. Three kids under the age of 10 were involved, none of them injured. At press time no tickets were issued.
Yesterday evening a brush fire closed both sides of I-70 for several hours near Wolcott. Vail Daily reports fire crews kept it contained to about 10 acres. Known as the Red Canyon Fire, authorities expect to have it doused by this evening.
No structures were damaged. The fire did scorch fencing along the interstate. The cause is under investigation.
Preview image courtesy Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit.