A 3-semi-truck crash in Aurora and a vehicle fire near Genesee Hill contributed to the mayhem

Interstate 70 reopened to traffic after two separate vehicle crashes closed sections of the highway on both sides of metro Denver Friday morning.

On the east side of the city in Aurora, a crash involving three semis, including one that caught on fire, happened around 8:20 a.m. just west of the E-470 intersection, according to Denver Gazette news partner 9News.

Early reports indicate that a 2026 Peterbilt hauling a trailer and traveling westbound was rear-ended by a 2020 Volvo also hauling a trailer, Colorado State Patrol said in a Friday news release. The Volvo and its trailer then became engulfed in flames, with the trailer tipping onto its side in the left lane of the highway.

The Volvo’s trailer was carrying plastic cargo that spilled onto the roadway and the median during the incident, CSP said. Both drivers of the semi-truck reported no injuries; authorities charged the Volvo’s driver with careless driving.

South Metro Fire Department, the Colorado Department of Transportation and CSP HAZMAT were among the agencies that responded to the incident, CSP said. The fire was contained just before 9:30 a.m. and two heavy tows were called to the scene.

All eastbound lanes and one westbound lane of the interstate have been reopened to traffic in the area, according to the release.

On the west side of metro Denver in the foothills, a vehicle fire near Genesee Hill closed the right two lanes of the interstate, according to CDOT’s COTrip map.

The interstate was also fully closed in between Floyd Hill and Idaho Springs due to what officials believed to be rock blasting early Friday morning but has since reopened to traffic.

For more on this story and others, please visit The Denver Gazette’s news partner 9News.