State investigators have identified the victims of a multicar collision Monday during a dust storm on Interstate 70 as a 37-year-old Broomfield man and a 68-year-old Arriba woman.
Jason N. Bird and Margorie Davis were both driving cars near the head of a 15-vehicle pileup triggered by a dust storm so thick there was “zero visibility,” said Trooper David Hall of the Colorado State Patrol.
The accident 15 miles east of Limon at 12:56 p.m. yesterday also injured five people and involved 10 passenger vehicles and five semi-tractor trailers, Hall said.
Sharon Chatterton, 63, of Colorado Springs received serious injuries when her SUV caught fire; she was taken to University Hospital in Denver.
David Glascock, 59, of Ashley, Mo., received moderate injuries and was taken to Lincoln Community Hospital in Hugo.
Kimberly Delve, 43, of Agate; Amber Tate-Bird, 37, of Broomfield; and Richard Launius, 44, of Winston-Salem, N.C., were treated for minor injuries.
Four vehicles, including the Birds’ car, were pushed off the highway.
A black 2007 Freightliner semi-tractor trailer burst into flames, and the fire spread to Davis’ maroon car, completely consuming the vehicle, and Chatterton’s gold 2007 Toyota SUV, Hall said. The tractor-trailer also was completed burned, he said.
Trooper Ryan Sullivan said it is not known how the first collision that sparked the chain-reaction accident took place.
The accident still is under investigation, he said.
Both directions of I-70 were closed for hours. The eastbound lanes reopened at 5:17 p.m., Sullivan said. The westbound lanes reopened after the wreckage was cleared at 9:20 p.m., he said.
Sullivan said he does not know whether authorities were considering closing the highway because of the dense dirt storm before the accident happened.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
