Several fire departments responded early Tuesday morning to a blaze started at the Boulder Scientific Company complex in Mead when chemicals burst into flames during processing.
Two employees were taken to a hospital and treated for minor, first-degree burns, said Battalion Chief Robert Coffey of Mountain View Fire Rescue.
“It was not a large body of fire but the location called for an abundance of caution,” Coffey said. “We brought way more resources than we would if this was a fire in a field.”
The plant costume makes chemicals for various industries, he said.
The first call from staff at the chemical complex came in at 12:21 a.m., Coffey said. A container of lithium salts had caught on fire. Efforts to put the fire out with fire extinguishers hadn’t worked.
Besides Mountain View firefighters, Longmont and Frederick crews were called in to fight the fire, he said.
The fire didn’t burn the building itself. Only chemicals were on fire, but that was the biggest concern, Coffey said.
The fire was under control by 3 a.m., he said.
He added that there is no lingering threat to the health of the community because of the fire.
Boulder Scientific was planning to restore operations at the plant that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week within several hours, Coffey said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or @kirkmitchell or
