2 killed in fire at Auburn propane company

Two workers died Wednesday after a boom on a truck they were operating at an Auburn propane company struck a power line late Wednesday afternoon.

At about 5:15 p.m., police and fire officials responded to a fire at the Ferrellgas company yard near the 3600 block of A Street Southeast.

After the fire was out, authorities realized two men were dead.

"They were on the side of the truck behind the driver's-side door," said Auburn police Sgt. Scott Near. "They were probably controlling the boom when it hit the wires."

Ferrellgas is a commercial facility with several large propane tanks. Near said he presumed the men were manipulating the tanks, attempting to move them around the yard using a boom, an aerial arm with a hook on it. The tip of the truck's boom hit the electrical wire.

The wire sparked a fire that engulfed the truck. The fire also surrounded the propane tanks, but firefighters dowsed the blaze without compromising the tanks. There was no explosion.

At 7:30 p.m., fire investigators were still on the scene trying to piece together events. Investigators also had arrived from the state Department of Labor and Industries.