Veronica Acosta joined Denver7 in January 2021 as a reporter.
CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. — A major pileup on Interstate 70 Tuesday is serving as a serious reminder for drivers about the dangers of spring storms , especially on Colorado's major corridors. READ MORE: I‑70 reopens after 70‑vehicle crash injures 19 near Eisenhower Tunnel'As I arrived on scene, it was just mass carnage, mass chaos,' Charlie Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield is the founder and partner of Mountain Recovery, a towing and roadside assistance company. He told Denver7 the Colorado State Patrol called right before 3 p.m. Tuesday, telling him about the major pileup and asking he divert all his resources to the crash.'When I arrived on scene, it was a bit overwhelming. There was a lot going on,' Stubblefield told Denver7's Veronica Acosta.
At least two of Stubblefield's crews were near the crash site Tuesday, helping clean up as fast as possible. Tow companies staging near the highway is a tactic the Colorado State Patrol says it's seeing more often.'We have been seeing it more often on the I-70 corridor, especially that way, it's just so much easier for us and everyone's safety to get these incidents cleared. That way there's not more major incidents like it was yesterday,' CSP Trooper Hunter Mathews told Denver7 Wednesday. 'For mountain recovery, we self deploy when passenger vehicle traction law goes in,' Stubblefield added. 'Spring storms are like impossible to prepare for, right?'
Tuesday's pileup, which involved about 70 vehicles, according to CSP, is also helping first responders prepare for future spring storms.'It's just so much easier for us and everyone's safety to get these incidents cleared. That way there's not more major incidents like it was yesterday,' Trooper Mathews said. 'It makes us understand that we need to work with our partners a little bit extra to make sure that everyone understands what the next steps are.'
For mountain towns, the impacts of the crash were hard to ignore Tuesday. 'If I-70 closes, then Georgetown's businesses are hurt because the traffic that we're used to with the tourism economy isn't here,' Dennis Durham said.Durham is the town administrator for the Town of Georgetown. He said when they got the call to help, they did just that.'We were ready for it, and we reacted. Our people stepped up,' Durham said. 'They called us yesterday, said that they needed our shelter, which is the community center here across the street, activated. We did that.'
'We reached out to our businesses in town, and they stepped up and offered food and supplies. Apizza restaurant offered pizza for anybody that was going to be in the shelter,' Durham told Denver7. As we expect another snowstorm in the mountains at the end of the week, Stubblefield and his crews are asking drivers to be careful on the roads.'You have to expect the worst and drive safely,' Stubblefield said, 'Learn something from it.'
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Georgetown Colorado I-70 Crash Interstate 70 Pileup Mountain Recovery Spring Storms Traffic Crashes
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