Fire near New Castle Thursday afternoon closed eastbound Interstate 70 for about 40 minutes.

Colorado River Fire Rescue battled the range fire near mile marker 100 that stalled traffic from about 3:30 p.m. until about 4:10 p.m. Fires were found burning on the south side of I-70 and in the median at mile markers 100 and 102.

Tracy Trulove, Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman, happened upon the scene before fire crews were called. She said it appeared to be a series of fires burning in a stretch of about a mile along the interstate.

As crews responded, winds picked up and bolstered the fires, cutting visibility on the interstate and prompting the short closure.

At about the same time, Glenwood Fire Chief Gary Tillotson said a log was on fire in a logjam on the Roaring Fork River. Crews had doused this fire by about 3:30 p.m.

Additionally, a controlled burn about 3.3 miles up Four Mile Road in the Chelyn Acres subdivision got out of control earlier in the day . Fire crews squelched that blaze, which burned only about one-tenth of an acre.