The Clear Creek County Coroner's Office has confirmed that the five trapped Georgetown plant workers died from asphyxiation.

They were trapped by a fire in a water tunnel at a hydroelectric plant in Georgetown. All were employees of RPI coating of Santa Fe Springs, California.

The men died October 2nd while working to coat the inside of the pipeline with a mixture of epoxy and paint in order to prevent corrosion.
The epoxy and paint mixture was kept in a hopper to warm it up so it would flow through a sprayer. The workers were having trouble spraying it so they added a solvent to the hopper, igniting vapors and causing a fire.