Guide Note

On October 2, 2007, a chemical fire in a hydroelectric plant near Georgetown, Colorado killed five contractors. The workers had become trapped in an empty water tunnel while performing routine maintenance.

Fast Facts

1. Occurred at Xcel Energy's Cabin Creek Station plant
2. Workers were contractors for RPI Coating
3. Deaths believed to have been caused by smoke and chemical inhalation
4. Four other contractors managed to escape the pipe, but sustained injuries
5. The steep, 55-degree angle of the pipe hindered escape and rescue efforts

Nine contractors were painting a pipe with anti-corrosive epoxy when an equipment malfunction caused a machine to catch fire around 2:00 p.m. A radio was dropped down the 1,500 foot pipe around 2:40 p.m. and the workers used it to report that they were unharmed. Toxic fumes and uncertainty about the severity of the fire prevented rescuers from reaching the trapped contractors until around 8:00 p.m., at which time the contractors' bodies were discovered.