One person and a dog were killed Thursday in a vehicle fire in the Colorado high country, shutting down Interstate 70 for hours as investigators combed the scene about a mile east of the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels.
The two-vehicle crash and subsequent fire happened at mile marker 217 on westbound Interstate 70 just after 1 p.m., Colorado State Patrol said.
The crash involved a 2021 Ram truck, hauling a trailer, and Freightliner semi-truck, which was also hauling a trailer, CSP said. The person and dog killed were both inside the Ram. The driver of the semi-truck reported no injuries.
The interstate fully reopened about 6:15 p.m., the Colorado Department of Transportation said Thursday.
The closure was in place for several hours as authorities investigated.
“Holiday traffic is very heavy and travelers should expect extremely long delays,” officials said in a post on cotrip.org. “Travelers able to do so should wait out the closure in Denver.”
Colorado State Patrol advised drivers to avoid traveling west on I-70 or south on U.S. 285 from Denver. Heavy congestion backed up U.S. 285 from Denver to Fairplay to Colorado 9 to navigate around the closure.
For traffic updates, visit cotrip.org.