Five workers found dead after fire at hydroelectric plant in Colo.

GEORGETOWN, Colo. -- Five workers trapped at least 1,500 feet underground survived an initial chemical fire at a hydroelectric plant, but died before emergency workers could rescue them.

Investigators were trying to determine how they died, and the county coroner's office was working Wednesday to identify the workers and remove their bodies.

Crews who entered from the bottom of the sloping tunnel to put out the fire discovered the bodies late Tuesday, Clear Creek County undersheriff Stu Nay said.

They were among a group of nine contract maintenance workers in the tunnel when a machine used to coat the inside of the 12-foot-wide pipe with epoxy caught fire, Xcel Energy spokeswoman Ethnie Groves said.

Exactly what burned is still under investigation, Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said Wednesday.

The contractors worked for RPI Coating of Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

"We're devastated over the loss," RPI spokesman Marc Dyer said. "They were very experienced guys. They were some of our best."

Dyer said the company was still contacting family members and did not release names of the workers.

Four workers below the fire were able to scramble out of the bottom of the 4,000-foot-long tunnel. All four were treated and released Tuesday, St. Anthony Hospital spokeswoman Bev Lilly said. She did not know the extent of their injuries or their identities.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was at the scene, and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board was sending an investigator. Several state agencies began their own investigations Wednesday.

Officials initially expressed hope that the trapped workers could be saved. Groves first reported that authorities had communicated with the five by radio about 45 minutes after the fire broke out, and that the men said they were unhurt.