5 Die in Fire at Colorado Plant
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GEORGETOWN, Colo. — Five laborers trapped 1,000 feet underground survived an initial chemical fire at a hydroelectric plant, but died before emergency responders could rescue them.
Investigators were trying to determine how they died, and the county coroner’s office was working today to identify the laborers and remove their bodies.
Crews who entered from the bottom of the sloping tunnel to put out the fire discovered the bodies late yesterday, a Clear Creek County undersheriff, Stu Nay, said.
They were among a group of nine contract maintenance laborers in the tunnel when a machine used to coat the inside of the 4-foot-wide pipe with epoxy caught fire, an Xcel Energy spokeswoman, Ethnie Groves, said. Xcel refused to release the name of the contractors’ employer.
Four workers below the fire were able to scramble out of the bottom of the 4,000-foot-long tunnel. Two of the four were treated for chemical inhalation, and one was airlifted to a hospital, Ms. Groves said.
Officials initially expressed hope that the trapped workers could be saved. Ms. Groves first reported that authorities had communicated with the five by radio and that the men said they were unhurt.
The nine workers were sealing the inside of the pipe to prevent corrosion when equipment they were using malfunctioned and ignited a fire at 2 p.m.
“We want to express our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and co-workers of those who died,” the president and chief executive of Public Service Company of Colorado, Tim Taylor, said. “Certainly, we’ll be working closely with the authorities to investigate what happened.”
The underground tunnel delivers water from a reservoir to turbines that generate electricity and empties into a second, smaller reservoir. The plant is located high in the Rocky Mountains.
Xcel said the tunnel initially rises 1,500 feet at a gentle sloping angle, then another 1,500 feet at a 15-degree angle. The pipe then rises 1,000 feet at a 55-degree angle before running vertical for its final 50 feet.
The smoldering fire broke out about halfway into the pipe. The five workers were trapped at the junction of the 15-degree pipe and the 55-degree pipe, Xcel said.
