4 dead in 30-vehicle pileup in Colorado as powerful winds slam Plains, fueling multiple wildfires
By Meteorologist Chris Dolce, CNN
(CNN) — At least four people are dead in a multi-vehicle pileup in Colorado and multiple fires are breaking out across the Plains as powerful winds wreak havoc across the region.
The pileup on Interstate 25 south of Pueblo, Colorado, involved over 30 vehicles as winds gusted up to 61 mph, blowing dust and dirt around, reducing visibility and causing “brown out” conditions.
Colorado State Police Maj. Brian Lyons described the wind event as moving in very quickly.
“Visibility was next to nothing,” he said.
At least 29 people were taken to the hospital with injuries, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Their injuries were described as minor to moderate, with a “few” described as serious. Ten people who were not injured were provided transportation away from the scene to keep out of the elements, Lyons said.
A three-mile stretch of the interstate remains shut down between mile markers 91 and 94 and there is no estimated reopening time, the Colorado Department of Transportation said.
The same powerful winds are causing fire weather conditions to go downhill fast in a “particularly dangerous situation” fire threat that’s gripping the region.
A wildfire that broke out late Tuesday morning in Beaver County, Oklahoma, rapidly crossed into southwest Kansas in just a few hours. It’s burned about 15,000 acres as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Service.
The fire is threatening at least two communities in Kansas. Evacuations are underway in Englewood and Ashland, according to CNN affiliate KAKE. At least one health center in Ashland, a town of around 700 people, reported it was evacuating in a social media post.
In northwest Kansas, an evacuation order is also in effect for the town of Herndon due to a nearby wildfire, the National Weather Service in Goodland said Tuesday afternoon.
Farther south, officials issued a fire warning Tuesday afternoon in the Texas Panhandle for a “dangerous wildfire” about four miles east of Goodnight, Texas, that was moving northeast at 3 to 5 mph.
More than 750,000 people in parts of five states across the Plains are facing Level 3 of 3 extremely critical fire weather conditions – damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph, extremely dry air and ample dead, dry vegetation – Tuesday.
“This is a Particularly Dangerous Situation,” the National Weather Service said in a red flag warning. “If fires start, they will spread rapidly and will be extremely difficult to control.”
Wind gusts are cranking up across a widespread area in the Plains and will only increase through the afternoon. Burlington, Colorado, clocked a gust of 71 mph and gusts over 60 mph have been observed in western Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.
Past wildfires sparked in similar conditions have been devastating: 2024’s Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle, the state’s largest wildfire, burned through more than 500 structures.
The fire weather concerns will peak this afternoon as winds are strongest and humidity levels bottom out to their lowest level between 10 to 15%. Conditions will remain dangerous into the early evening hours before easing up overnight.
Tuesday’s strong winds in the Plains are also generating more than just dangerous fire conditions.
High-profile vehicles like semi-trucks could be blown over and any dust lofted into the air could cause poor visibility for drivers. Scattered power outages are also possible.
Another storm could kick up winds and increase fire danger to critical conditions, the second-highest level, tomorrow afternoon in the southern High Plains, from eastern New Mexico and West Texas into the Oklahoma Panhandle, southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado.
The-CNN-Wire
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