In case you missed it, three wildfires sparked in Colorado’s Glenwood Canyon near I-70 on June 4, prompting an emergency response. Thankfully, the fight against those fires seems to be going well, but here’s what you need to know.

Around 3 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to a brush fire that started on the south side of the Colorado River near eastbound I-70’s mile marker 119.5. The fire was burning in sagebrush with a helicopter requested to assist in water drops while an eastbound lane of I-70 was closed for the sake of firefighter safety.

The effort to stamp out this blaze would ultimately be successfully, with a 6:05 p.m. update noting that it had been contained. Unfortunately, a prior 3:40 p.m. update indicated that another spot fire was found in the area of mile marker 123.4, adjacent to nearby railroad tracks. By the time of the 6:05 p.m. update, this fire was described as 50 percent contained.

At 3:52 p.m., it was announced that a third fire had also been found near the railroad tracks, this one at mile marker 123.2 – located between the two fires that had already been announced. After a helicopter dropped water buckets on this blaze, it was announced to be fully contained with the 6:05 p.m. update.

No update has been posted by the Glenwood Springs Fire Department as of 12:30 p.m. on June 5, but another fire unit that’s involved in the situation provided some additional insight.

According to the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit, all three fires were burning in steep and rugged terrain, with their cause still under investigation. The fires were relatively small, with the two that were contained by the time of the aforementioned 6:05 p.m. report respectively measuring at about 0.1 acres and 2 acres. Meanwhile, the third blaze was at about 2.5 acres. Per that agency, containment was expected to be achieved on that blaze last night. Per the Colorado Department of Transportation CoTrip map, it appears as if there are no longer any travel impacts on I-70 in Glenwood Canyon aside from impacts related to road construction.

It’s also worth noting that local rafting companies played a role in assisting in the firefighting effort. Glenwood Springs Fire Department thanked Defiance Rafting and Blue Sky Adventures for providing rafts that allowed firefighters to travel across the Colorado River, improving access to what’s typically difficult-to-reach terrain.

While it’s likely that these fires are now mostly non-issues at the time this piece is being published given the lack of update from agencies involved and how the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit noted that full containment by the evening of June 4 was expected, this serves as a scary reminder that even while there’s been a turn to a wetter spring following dry winter months, fire risk still exists.

If more information is published about these fires, it will likely be published on the Glenwood Springs Fire Department Facebook page or the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit Facebook page.

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