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Another day of strong winds and high fire danger in Colorado

Posted at 12:19 PM, Mar 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-09 21:03:00-05

DENVER – Strong winds and a lack of moisture continue to create hazardous conditions around the state of Colorado Thursday.

A red flag warning for fire danger is in effect until 6 p.m. for the northeastern corner of the state, with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour expected.

In the mountains and foothills, winds are even stronger, with gusts up to 50 and 60 mph.

The Colorado Department of Transportation issued a high wind restriction for both directions of I-70 between the Eisenhower Tunnel and Dumont, meaning high-profile vehicles are not allowed on the freeway due to the risk of them blowing over.

The westbound lanes of I-70 were closed at Idaho Springs due to the high winds and a crash involving a semi that rolled over onto a car. There weren’t any reports of injuries in the crash.

A grass fire in Logan County forced the closure of Highway 61 between Sterling and Otis around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The fire was between 50 and 100 acres as of noon and firefighters from several jurisdictions were on the scene fighting the blaze.

That fire was about 40 miles away from where a brush fire burned more than 30,000 acres and several buildings earlier in the week.

Stay with Denver7 and thedenverchannel.com for the latest weather forecasts throughout the day.

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