1 killed in semi fire, crash that closed I-70 for hours

DENVER (KDVR) — One person died in a Thursday morning semitruck crash and fire that closed both directions of Interstate 70 in Morrison for hours.

Eastbound I-70 reopened just after 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Westbound I-70 reopened at about 6:30 p.m. between U.S. 6 at Golden and exit 254 at U.S. 40/Genesee, although at least two left lanes were still closed.

Travel, deliveries impacted by 9-hour-long I-70 closure

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded Thursday morning to westbound I-70 at mile marker 259 for a tanker on fire. According to Colorado State Patrol, a semitrailer had pulled off the road for an unclear reason and a passenger vehicle then rear-ended the semi, resulting in a fire.

Both directions of I-70 were closed at 9:45 a.m. and remained closed into the afternoon as crews cleared the scene. The sheriff’s office confirmed one person was killed in the crash. On Friday, the sheriff’s office reported the victim, a female, was the sole occupant of the passenger. She has not been identified and her next of kin were not yet notified as of Friday at 2 p.m.

The semitruck driver was taken to the hospital, but the status of his injuries remained unknown after a 2 p.m. news conference. No details were released about the person who died in the passenger vehicle.

Hazardous materials cleanup in progress

Colorado State Patrol Golden’s initial reports indicated that the semi overheated and parked on the right shoulder when a car crashed into the trailer. The spilled fuel from the semi flowed through a culvert and across the eastbound lanes. According to CSP Golden, the tanker had diesel and gasoline on board.

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gabriel Moltrer said during a 2 p.m. briefing that because the fuel and fire went through the culvert, emergency crews were checking the integrity of the road. The lanes could have been deformed by the blaze.

Crews were offloading the semitrailer’s fuel into a different tanker around 2 p.m. The burnt semitrailer had previously been stabilized and the leaks stopped.

Several small grass fires were extinguished and a hazmat crew was on scene. According to Brady Johnson, a public information officer with Arvada Fire Department, about an acre of wildland was burnt and it took crews about an hour to extinguish the fires once they arrived on scene. Johnson also reported that the fire was “very hot” and produced “thick, black, toxic smoke.”

He also called the incident “really complex,” noting medical, fire suppression, hazardous materials and wildland fire components that required quick responses and “a lot of resources.”

At about 1 p.m., the city of Lakewood reported it was responding to the fuel spill to prevent “any possible impacts to the reservoir at Bear Creek Lake Park.” The city said it was using containment booms to capture potential spillage and was communicating with multiple agencies, including the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, multiple fire departments, CDOT and CSP.

“Fortunately, no fuel has been detected at this time,” reads a post from Lakewood just at 4:37 p.m.

I-70 closure expected to last through evening commute

The highway was expected to be closed for several hours which will impact the evening commute, according to the sheriff’s office. Detours are available but will add at least an hour to travel.

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Columbine High School and Dakota Ride High School have graduations planned for Thursday evening at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The I-70 closure should not impact access to Red Rocks but those attending may want to add extra time to their commute.

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