DENVER—The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Friday it would launch its own investigation the causes of a chemical fire that killed five workers in an underground tunnel at a power plant near Georgetown.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating the deaths of the five men who were working to coat the inside of the pipeline with a mixture of epoxy and paint in order to prevent corrosion. Four men escaped.
The mixture was kept in a hopper to warm it up so it would flow through a sprayer. The workers were having spraying it so they added a solvent to the hopper and the hopper’s heating element inadvertently turned on, igniting the vapors.
Authorities believe Donald Dejaynes, 43, Duper Holt, 37, James St. Peters, 52, Gary Foster, 48, and Anthony Aguirre, 18, who were trapped above the fire in the pipeline, likely died from smoke or fumes from the chemical fire. Autopsy results are expected next week.
The chemical board doesn’t issue citations or fines but makes safety recommendations to industry, labor groups and regulators based on its findings.
OSHA is focusing on conditions inside the confined space and what type of protection and safety training the maintenance crew had, among other things. OSHA area director Herb Gibson said the agency would look into reports from family members that that the men had expressed concern about their safety before the fire.
