8/24 6:00AM update: I-70 is now open through Glenwood Canyon, one lane in each direction. The Grizzly Creek Fire is now 30,362 acres and 31% contained. This is the last time we’ll update this post. Future updates will come from separate posts.
8/20 6:00PM update: Grizzly Creek Fire is 29,732 acres and 11% contained.
8/16 9:00AM update: The Grizzly Creek Fire has now consumed 25,690 acres and remains zero percent contained. The fire is being fought by 625 firefighters.
8/15 11:00AM update: Fire is now 19,440 acres and is zero percent contained.
8/14 6:00PM update: White River Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams says the immediate area around Hanging Lake was not destroyed by the fire, including the boardwalk.
8/14 5:30PM update: Independence Pass is open to passenger vehicles only. Alternating traffic on each side of the pass with heavy law enforcement presence.
8/14 6:00AM update: Grizzly Creek Fire now 14,663 acres in size. Still zero containment. We’ll broadcast tonight’s 6:00 fire briefing on KMTS.
8/13 9:30PM update: Additional evacuations: Coffee Pot Road, Sweetwater Road, Lower River Road (Eagle County), Sweetwater Road.
Pre-evacuation: Two Rivers and Dotsero Mobile Home Park.
8/12 2:00PM update: The fire is now 3,702 acres in size. We’ll broadcast a public meeting on the fire live at 6:00 tonight.
8/12 12:00PM update: Highway 82 is closed over Independence Pass for the duration of the fire.
8/11 7:15PM: Cottonwood Pass is closed indefinitely. Probably for the duration of the Glenwood Canyon closure.
8/11 3:00PM update: Glenwood Springs—The Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon has now jumped to the south side of I-70 and the Colorado River. No Name residents have already been evacuated to the Glenwood Springs Community Center. Evacuations are also being ordered for the south side of Lookout Mountain. Officials are going door to door and making reverse 9-1-1 calls to notify Lookout Mountain residents. All evacuees are being told to go to the Glenwood Springs Community Center on Wulfsohn Road. Residents of Bair Ranch are being told to prepare to evacuate. The fire that started Monday afternoon has now grown by over 500 acres to 1,832 total acres with no containment. Over 120 personnel are currently battling the blaze on the ground and mostly through the air with several large air tankers, single engine air tankers and helicopters. The Grizzly Creek Fire is the top priority in the nation as another air tanker has been called in to assist.
8/11: 12:45PM: No Name residents are advised to evacuate immediately. Shelter is available at the Glenwood Springs Community Center.
8/11 6:15AM update: Pre-Evacuation notice for No Name Residents. No Name residents should be prepared to evacuate at any time.
8:30PM Update: Coffee Pot Road is also closed.
6:30 PM Update: Eastbound I-70 is open to Glenwood, but still closed from Exit 116 to Exit 140 (Glenwood to Gypsum). Indications are, it could be a couple days before the road reopens.
CDOT recommends that travelers use highways to the south of I-70 while detouring:
– Travelers heading westbound on I-70 can use US 24, CO 91, or CO 9 to US 285 US 50 and continue west.
– Motorists headed east on I-70 can travel on US 50 to travel east towards US 24, CO 91 or CO 9 to return to I-70 eastbound, or continue east on 285 to the Denver metro area.
– Motorists can take a northern detour of CO 131 to US 40 to CO 139. Please note that while CO 13 is open at this time, it is not a recommended detour due to construction. *Oversize commercial vehicles is not allowed due to construction conditions on CO 13.
-Highway 82 over Independence Pass is also not a recommended detour
5:30PM Update: Glenwood Springs—The Grizzly Creek Wildfire is spreading at a high rate of speed. In just a short time the fire has grown from 250 acres to over 14-hundred acres. Additional air support is coming from Pocatello, Idaho and Phoenix, Arizona. No evacuations have been ordered as the fire, which started around 1:30 this afternoon, has climbed up the canyon walls and is burning on mostly forest service land. The Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit has taken command of the incident. I-70 will be closed for an extended time in both directions from Gypsum to Glenwood Springs.
4:00PM Update: Glenwood Springs—The Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon has now burned over 250 acres and is being attacked by ground and air crews. A heavy air tanker from Casper, Wyoming has been called in to help fight the fire along with water dropping helicopters. The fire erupted around 1:30 this afternoon and is rapidly spreading up the mountain burning Spruce, Oak and Pinion Juniper trees. No evacuations have been ordered at this time. I-70 is closed in both directions from Gypsum to Glenwood Springs. Officials have no idea how long the interstate will be closed. In addition to the fire, intermittent power outages are occurring all over Glenwood Springs. Authorities aren’t sure if the outages are related to the fire.
Fire crews are on the scene of a wildfire in Glenwood Canyon that appeared to start in the area of Grizzly Creek this afternoon. The fire was first reported to us around 1:30 this afternoon.
I-70 is closed from Glenwood (Mile 116) to Dotsero (Mile 133).
Intermittent power outages have been reported in Glenwood since the fire started.
It’s not known how large the fire is, or when I-70 might reopen.
We will update this story as it develops.
