The Grizzly Creek Fire was a wildfire that burned 32,631 acres in Glenwood Canyon in the state of Colorado in the United States. The fire first ignited on August 10, 2020 and was declared 100% contained on December 18, 2020. The Grizzly Creek fire's proximity to Interstate 70 resulted in a 13-day closure of the interstate. It threatened the Shoshone Generating Station and resulted in the evacuation of residences in the area, as well as closure of recreational land in portions of White River National Forest. The fire was ruled to be human-caused.
Grizzly Creek Fire on August 23, 2020
The Grizzly Creek Fire burning near the Shoshone Hydroelectric Generating Station.
The Grizzly Creek Fire burning along Interstate 70 on August 11, 2020.
Fire growing on the slopes south of the Colorado River on August 12
Interstate 70 in Colorado
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from Cove Fort, Utah, to Baltimore, Maryland. In Colorado, the highway traverses an east–west route across the center of the state. In western Colorado, the highway connects the metropolitan areas of Grand Junction and Denver via a route through the Rocky Mountains. In eastern Colorado, the highway crosses the Great Plains, connecting Denver with metropolitan areas in Kansas and Missouri. Bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles, normally prohibited on Interstate Highways, are allowed on those stretches of I-70 in the Rockies where no other through route exists.
Westbound I-70 on a viaduct inside Glenwood Canyon, paralleling the Colorado River and former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (now Union Pacific) main line
The western portal of the Hanging Lake Tunnel; at this point in the canyon both the river and the railroad are directly below the freeway viaducts.
Entrance to the Eisenhower Tunnel
Warning sign stating, "Trucks, Don't be Fooled—4 more miles [6.4 km] of steep grades and sharp curves"