DENVER -- Nine people went into a pipe at an electric plant to work deep underground Tuesday. Only four made it out alive.

One of the families who lost a loved one said four of the five men who died were from Bakersfield, Calif.

One of the survivors is from Duchesne, Utah.

Rick Foster, whose brother, 48-year-old Gary Boyce Foster, was killed, said there are a "lot of questions we want answered."

Foster’s daughter Brandy Vincent said her dad taught her how to ride a bike.

"I don’t think he wanted us to ever have to worry," said Vincent. "I know we missed him a lot, he was gone a lot when we were growing up. His No. 1 job was to be a provider in his eyes and he was very good at it."

Foster was the foreman in the pipe, working underground at the Cabin Creek Hydro-Electric plant near Georgetown.

Initial reports said four men escaped when fire broke out inside the pipe Tuesday afternoon. Five of the contractors were trapped above the fire awaiting rescue.

Rescue workers appeared confident the five would be found safe, but around 10 p.m., those five trapped men were found dead.

Dale and Florence Neiling of Duchesne, Utah, said their son frantically called them Tuesday, telling them he was OK.

"He wanted to go back in the mine immediately with oxygen hoses and stuff, but the safety people and the people doing the rescue wouldn't let him," said Dale.

The couple said they always knew their son's job was dangerous, but he made good money.

Dale Neilson Jr., who escaped, told his parents there was an explosion, possibly from a spark from their compressor.

He said he took off running and was able to escape.

The Cabin Creek Plant is on Guanella Pass just south of Georgetown in Clear Creek County.

7News was told the crew had been in Georgetown for four weeks and was expected to stay until December.