Wildfire forced closure of westbound lanes of Colorado's I-70 between Parachute and Rifle

A wildfire forced the closure of westbound lanes of I-70 between Parachute and Rifle in Colorado's Western Slope for nearly a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon. The fire forced authorities to close the three-mile stretch of I-70 between US 6, which is five miles west of Rifle and Exit 75, which is three miles east of Parachute, just after noon. All lanes reopened before 2 p.m. 

The closure ranged from mile marker 81 to mile marker 78. The Colorado Department of Transportation issued the closure just after noon on Thursday due to fire activity. 

What sparked the fire is being investigated. 

First Alert Meteorologists called for a First Alert Weather Day on Thursday due to the combination of near-record heat, extremely low humidity and dry, gusty thunderstorms expected to create a fire danger situation for more than half of the state.

As a result, a RED FLAG WARNING is posted for all of the Western Slope, Colorado Mountains and the Front Range Foothills from noon through 10 p.m. Thursday.