DENVER — Moments after a vehicle crashed into a tanker on the shoulder of Interstate 70 west of Denver on Thursday, killing one of the drivers and causing an hourslong shutdown of the interstate, Aeh Jay Hollenbeck came around a bend to a wall of smoke and fire.
"I got out," Hollenbeck said. "I was about, I don't know, 50 feet from the fire. And I just wanted to see if anybody needed help."
He said he wasn't wearing proper clothes to get any closer, and the fire was moving down the hill, toward his vehicle.
"I got pretty close to it, but there's nothing you could do at that point," he said.
The crash happened around 9:30 a.m. on westbound I-70 at mile marker 259.5, near Morrison. According to the Colorado State Patrol (CSP), the tanker had overheated and was parked on the right shoulder when the car crashed into it, causing a fire that engulfed both vehicles.
CSP said the driver of the car, an unknown female, died in the crash. The driver of the tanker, a 31-year-old from Greeley, was taken to the hospital, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said.
The fire spread into the grass along the interstate.
Hollenbeck said at that moment he knew he had to make a drastic decision and drive against opposing traffic.
"I kind of get teary-eyed thinking about it just because it was kind of shock, and I was just reacting, and then that's when I was able to turn around," he said. I was like, 'Dad, just please stay on the phone with me. I'm driving in opposing traffic, there's a massive fire behind us.'"
Hollenbeck said he tried warning oncoming drivers by yelling out his window. Eventually, police blocked the road and he was able to get to safety.
More than 15 agencies were on scene battling various aspects of the incident. Among them were the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and various hazmat units specifically tackling the 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel the tanker was holding that began spilling on the road, close to main waterways.
Crews hauled out the tanker and cleared the scene around 6 p.m.
Jeremy Jojola and Kirin Pandit contributed to this report.
More 9NEWS local coverage:
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS