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PHOTOS: A look back at the Grizzly Creek Fire one year later

A man watches from the Grand Avenue Pedestrian Bridge as smoke billows from the Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Fire crews work to battle the Grizzy Creek Fire as it shoots down the ridge into No Name Canyon on Tuesday, Aug 11 afternoon after the fire initially started on Interstate 70 on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020 at MM 120.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
People float down the Colorado River as smoke billows from the Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon on the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 10, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent

Today marks the one-year anniversary since the Grizzly Creek Fire erupted in Glenwood Canyon near MM 120 around 1:30 p.m. on the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. The fire burned until it was 100% contained on Dec. 18 and spread to 32,631 acres.

By Aug. 12, the fire had crossed both Interstate 70 and the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. The power plant at the Shoshone Generating Station was evacuated, alongside with the communities of No Name, Lookout Mountain, and Coulter Creek. Due to the fire’s location and the closure of I-70 the Grizzly Creek Fire became the nation’s top fire priority and was taken over by Type I crews.

Fire crews work to battle the Grizzy Creek Fire as it shoots down the ridge into No Name Canyon on Tuesday afternoon after the fire initially started on Interstate 70 on Mon. Aug, 10 at MM 120.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
A man watches and takes photos of the Grizzly Creek Fire as it blows up in No Name Canyon on the afternoon of Tuesday Aug. 11 after the fire initially started on Interstate 70 on Aug. 10 at MM 120.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Fire crews work to battle the Grizzy Creek Fire as it shoots down the ridge into No Name Canyon on Tuesday, Aug 11 after the fire initially started on Interstate 70 on Monday at MM 120.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Smoke billows from the Grizzly Creek Fire above No Name Canyon and on the south side of the Colorado River above Glenwood Canyon on the afternoon of Wednesday. Aug. 12, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent

The rapidly growing fire spread east towards Bair Ranch and southeast into Devil’s Hole Canyon and doubled in size from 6,251 acres to 13,441 acres by the morning of Aug. 13.



Due to the fire’s location near residences and its potential impact on the environment by Aug. 19, Burned Area Emergency Response teams arrived on the scene.

An airtanker flies around the smoke plume billowing from the Grizzly Creek Fire as it explodes on the south side of the Colorado River above Glenwood Canyon on Aug. 11.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Smoke billows from the canyon walls as the Grizzly Creek Fire explodes in Glenwood Canyon on the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 10, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Embers from the Grizzly Creek Fire illuminate the mountains above Glenwood Springs on the evening of Aug. 13. The Grizzly Creek Fire initially broke out along interstate 70 at MM 120 in Glenwood Canyon just east of Glenwood Springs.

I-70 reopened on the morning of Aug. 24 until a second temporary closure was put in place while helicopters worked to extinguish a flare up.



The fire containment reached 60% by Aug. 26 and fire crews continued to make progress in the following weeks and months.

The fire was human caused though the exact cause remains undetermined.

Smoke from the Grizzly Creek Fire billows behind the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool in Glenwood Canyon after the fire blew up again in No Name Creek on the afternoon of Wed. Aug, 12.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams and other forest personnel stop at the Hanging Lake rest area to assess progress of the Grizzly Creek Fire on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Spoke hangs low in the cliffs near the Hanging Lake rest area due to the Grizzly Creek Fire on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
The scorched landscape sits smoldering just east of Grizzly Creek in Glenwood Canyon after a fire tore through the area the second week of August 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Damage to the guardrail is seen after boulders fell from the cliffs on Glenwood Canyon due to the Grizzly Creek Fire that started on Interstate 70 at MM 120 Aug. 10, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Grizzly Creek Fire PIO Wayne Patterson walks along the footpath near the Hanging Lake Trailhead while in the canyon on the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Smoke lifts from the cliffs of Glenwood Canyon after the Grizzly Creek Fire tore through the area and continues to burn in spot fires along the canyon walls on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Fire crews from across the nation ready their helicopters at the Glenwood Springs Airport which was used as the helibase for the Grizzly Creek Fire in August of 2020.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent

Visual Journalist Chelsea Self can be reached at 970-384-9108 or cself@postindependent.com


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