Officials with CDOT sent out a warning to Denver-area drivers in the afternoon to avoid heading up to the high country due to a fatal crash on Interstate 70. Westbound I-70 reopened after 5 p.m.

Westbound Interstate 70 was closed for hours Wednesday near the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel after an early morning crash involving a tractor-trailer, according to the Colorado Department of

The crash happened around 1 p.m. on westbound Interstate 70 just east of the tunnel. The Colorado State Patrol said a Dodge Ram pickup truck hauling a trailer collided with a Freightliner semi-truck, causing a fire. One person in the pickup died at the scene, troopers said. A dog was also killed. The driver of the semi was not injured.