GEORGETOWN, Colo. -- The bodies of five contract workers who died 2,500 feet inside an underground water tunnel following a chemical fire have been removed from the tunnel in Clear Creek County.

Clear Creek County Undersheriff Stu Nay identified the contract workers as Donald Dejaynes, 43; Dupree Holt, 37; James St. Peters, 52; Gary Foster, 48; and Anthony Aguirre, 18. (Read about reaction from victims' families.)

Nay also gave new details about how the fire started.

"Crews were apparently having trouble spraying the epoxy paint mix," Nay said. "The gun or the hose line was not working properly."

The workers tried to pour a solvent into the hopper, which has to heat the epoxy/paint mix to send it down the line to the spray gun, and "at the same time, by pure bad luck, the heating element came on, igniting the vapor," and starting the fire, Nay said.

"We found no wrongdoing and no foul play, and no evidence of criminal activity," Nay said.

Clear Creek sheriff's deputies will now turn over the investigation to Xcel Energy and investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Nay said.

"We are pretty much done," Nay said.

The fire broke out shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Cabin Creek hydroelectric plant, inside one of the 12-foot-wide, 4,000-foot pipes used to carry water from an upper reservoir through turbines to the lower reservoir. (Read Timeline.)

The Clear Creek Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that 11 contract workers were working in or around the water pipe when the fire started. Nine men who were inside the pipeline were separated into two groups by the fire.

"When the fire initiated, one party ran back in to try to assist," Nay said.

Nay did not identify that worker but said he managed to get out and "then became one of the victims that was transported."

Three other workers below the fire made it out shortly after the fire broke out. The other five were trapped above the fire and eventually died.

Nay said there was not sign of trauma and "none of the bodies had burn marks on them," Nay said.

Rescue crews who entered from the bottom of the sloping tunnel to put out the fire discovered that the fire had extinguished itself by 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Less than two hours later, they found the bodies of the workers spread out over a 200-foot distance, but did not retrieve them, Nay said.

Efforts were under way all day Wednesday to recover the bodies but crews had to wait nearly 24 hours after the fire because of the toxic air that had been building inside the pipeline.

Victims Came From RPI Coating

Nay said the contracting company involved was RPI Coating, headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Santa Fe Springs is a Los Angeles suburb.

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

According to its Web site, RPI provides painting, coating and fire-proofing services.

The incident was originally described as an explosion but officials later said it was a chemical fire.

Nay said the workers were not wearing flame retardant clothing and only had breathing masks designed to filter out paint fumes.

Survivors were treated at St. Anthony Hospital in Denver and released Tuesday, hospital spokeswoman Bev Lilly said. She did not know the extent of their injuries nor their identities.

Officials initially expressed hope that the trapped workers could be saved. An Xcel spokeswoman first reported that authorities had communicated with the five by radio and that the men said they were unhurt. However, rescuers later found all five dead.

"Once they made sure there was plenty of air inside for the rescuers, we sent people in and were able to locate bodies from the trapped parties," said Nay. "Everybody worked their tail off to get this done."

The men were performing preventative maintenance that had been scheduled for at least a year. They began in September and were expected to stay through December, when the work was to be complete.

Those wishing to provide assistance to the victims may donate to the Cabin Creek Relief Fund at Clear Creek National Bank. Call 303-567-9700 or visit the bank's Web site for more information.

Investigation Into What Went Wrong Begins

Xcel said it would cooperate with accident investigators. Investigators from OSHA arrived Wednesday to head up the investigation.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board also sent an investigator and several state agencies began their own investigations Wednesday.

"Certainly, we'll be working closely with the authorities to investigate what happened. We're going to keep the lines of communication open between Xcel and the agencies working on this investigation, and we'll be working closely with the agencies as the investigation proceeds," said Tim Taylor, president and CEO of Public Service Company of Colorado and Xcel Energy Company.

Fire Separates Workers, Traps 5 Men

Nine contractors were working inside the empty water tunnel, about 2,500 feet into the 4,000-feet tunnel when their equipment ignited the fire, authorities said.

The blaze separated the nine men inside the empty shaft, also known as a penstock. A penstock is a tube is used to transfer water from an upper lake to the turbines inside the plant below. The plant is located high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, six miles south of Georgetown, on the flank of Guanella Pass.

Xcel said the tunnel initially rises 1,500 feet at a gentle sloping angle, then another 1,500 feet at a 10-degree angle. The pipe then rises 1,000 feet at a 55-degree angle before running 90-degrees vertical for its final 50 feet.

The fire broke out 1,400 feet from the lower entrance to the penstock. The five workers were trapped at the junction of the 10-degree pipe and the 55-degree pipe, Xcel said.

Personnel from at least a dozen agencies, including a mine rescue crew and an Alpine rescue team, rushed to the site.

At about 4:30 p.m. officials lowered a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus and a radio, but authorities could not confirm if the workers ever used them.

About a half-hour later, the fans at the bottom of the penstock were reversed to pull the smoke away from the fire and the trapped workers.

The men had scrambled up the concrete and steel tunnel and sought shelter behind a temporary valve used to prevent water from seeping into the pipe, said Maj. Rick Albers of the Clear Creek County sheriff's department.

When the mine rescue team entered at 5:45 p.m., they reported that there was only about 15 feet of visibility at the entrance but clearer as they moved up the pipeline.

An Alpine rescue crew and a confined-space entry team from West Metro Fire were positioned at the top of the tunnel were ready to rappel down to the workers, but they never entered the tunnel, Nay said.

More About Cabin Creek Hydroelectric Plant

The Cabin Creek Power/Hydro Plant, six miles up Guanella Pass Road from Georgetown, is a hydroelectric pumped storage power plant owned and operated by Xcel Energy.

The plant opened in April 1967, and it includes of two reservoirs where water flows from an upper reservoir to a lower reservoir to turn its generators and create electricity.

The hydroelectric plant generates electricity during peak times of demand by releasing water from the Upper Cabin Creek reservoir into the Lower Cabin Creek Reservoir, then slowly pumping the water back to the upper reservoir during non-peak times.

The plant is located at 10,018 feet above sea level and produces 234 megawatts of power by releasing water from a top reservoir into the lower reservoir, then pumping the water back to the upper reservoir.

Xcel Energy said that it was a supplemental power plant and no electrical outage is expected by the shutdown of the plant and the rescue operation.

The Clear County side of Guanella Pass was closed to normal traffic Wednesday to allow emergency vehicles quicker access to the power plant.