A deadly windstorm ripped across Colorado’s Front Range and Eastern Plains on Tuesday, causing a massive pileup on Interstate 25 that killed five people. Wind fueled a wildfire, cut power to hundreds of homes and delayed or canceled more than 1,100 flights at Denver International Airport.
Widespread winds over 60 mph swept through Colorado communities east of Interstate 25, reaching 73 mph southeast of Lamar and 72 mph in Cheyenne County, according to National Weather Service reports.
Colorado weather: Strong winds create hazardous driving, fire conditions in southern part of state
Heavy wind and blowing dirt caused a “brown out” on northbound I-25 south of Pueblo at 10 a.m., reducing visibility to “next to nothing” and leading to a crash involving 36 vehicles, State Patrol officials said.
Four people were initially killed in the crash, and paramedics took 29 people to area hospitals, the State Patrol said. Seven people suffered serious injuries and one remained in critical condition Tuesday night.
Wednesday morning, the Colorado State Patrol announced a fifth person had died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Troopers also discovered a smaller, secondary crash on southbound I-25 in the same area that caused only property damage.
A pickup truck hauling a trailer of goats was among the vehicles involved in the northbound crash. Four of the goats were killed, State Patrol officials said, and 28 were removed safely from the crash site.
I-25 was closed in both directions between exit 91 for Stem Beach and Colorado 45 in Pueblo, near mile marker 94, for more than four hours because of the crash, with southbound lanes reopening about 2:30 p.m. and the northbound lanes reopening overnight.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, and the Pueblo County Coroner’s Office will identify the five people killed.
A brush fire that sparked in rural Elbert County on Tuesday quickly exploded to an estimated 5,000- to 10,000-acre wildfire, forcing evacuations for several homes as high winds pushed the flames across miles of short-grass prairie and cultivated fields.
The County Road 169 fire started burning near Matheson, an unincorporated community 17 miles west of Limon, around noon, state fire officials said.
Firefighters from across the Front Range were dispatched to the wildfire as crews battled sustained winds of 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph.
Fire crews got a foothold on the fire at 5 p.m. and managed to stop forward progress near Colorado 71, which is 15 miles east of Matheson, according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
State officials could not give a more precise estimate of the fire’s footprint Tuesday night because high winds prevented firefighting airplanes from taking off.
High winds also snarled air travel at Denver International Airport, where more than 1,100 flights were delayed or canceled Tuesday.
Airlines at as of Tuesday night, including 61 cancellations and 207 delays on SkyWest, 24 cancellations and 311 delays on Southwest Airlines and five cancellations and 397 delays on United Airlines.
A Federal Aviation Administration-ordered caused departing flights to be 155 minutes late on average, according to an agency alert.
Although the wind forecast sparked concerns about widespread power outages among utility providers, most Front Range companies reported limited power cuts, especially compared with the sweeping public safety power shutoffs that hit tens of thousands of Front Range customers in December.
officials initially planned to cut power to 8,200 customers near Colorado Springs and Pueblo on Tuesday, but conditions improved enough to limit the power cuts to 90 customers in north Pueblo. Power lines were re-energized as of Tuesday night, the utility said in a statement.
Firefighting activity also caused power outages for 136 customers in Elbert County on Tuesday, according to the
Xcel Energy did not institute any public safety power cuts Tuesday, instead using “enhanced powerline safety settings” to make lines more sensitive and able to de-energize when issues are detected.
Xcel’s outage map showed 94 customers without power across metro Denver as of Tuesday night.
Front Range residents can expect breezy conditions to continue Wednesday, with milder winds expected through most of the state, according to the National Weather Service.
A red flag warning for dangerous fire weather remained in effect for Elbert and Lincoln counties until 7 p.m. Tuesday, forecasters said.
