Blast rocks concrete factory
John Aguilar, Rocky Mountain News
Published May 11, 2005 at midnight
Twenty Denver firefighters were decontaminated after responding to a chemical explosion and fire at a concrete blending and packaging company Tuesday.
No one was injured in the blast, fire officials said. The explosion happened about 1 p.m. inside a mixing room at the US Mix Products Co. at 102 S. Santa Fe Drive.
Denver fire spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne attributed the explosion to three chemicals that US Mix uses to cure concrete. Investigators were still trying to determine what triggered the explosion, he said.
The blast blew out a non-load- bearing interior wall inside the plant and started a fire, Champagne said. Sprinklers contained the blaze until firefighters could get there.
Champagne said that investigators would examine the integrity of the building to make sure it is structurally safe. Santa Fe Drive was closed for about an hour while a hazardous-materials team determined the potential for chemical exposure in the immediate area.
Nearly a dozen fire department vehicles were sent to the scene, including a decontamination truck. Champagne said investigators were concerned about firefighters' possible exposure to a chemical, and decontaminated 20 firefighters who may have come into contact with it.
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