A cylinder of silane gas caught fire Sunday afternoon inside Microchip Technology's Colorado Springs plant, setting off an overnight hazmat response that kept nearby residents on standby for possible evacuation. The facility is located at 1150 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd., and the first call came in at 2:54 p.m. Sunday.
Crews traced the source of the fire to a silane gas cylinder within the chip manufacturing facility. Officials warned that training water directly on the flames would have introduced additional dangers. The fire remained confined to a portion of the building where the chemical gas was stored.
A small number of employees were moved out of the building promptly, and no injuries were reported. Around 4 p.m. Sunday, the Fire Department put residents on a pre-evacuation footing, covering the corridor running from Venetucci Boulevard to Tenderfoot Hill Street and instructing them to be ready to leave if ordered. That zone sits near the intersection of Colorado Highway 115 and Lake Avenue.
Rather than attempting direct suppression, hazmat specialists worked to contain the blaze and let it burn itself out. Crews confirmed the fire was fully extinguished at roughly 1:50 a.m. Monday. Once conditions had been verified as safe and no active leak was detected, the Fire Department lifted the pre-evacuation warning at 10:50 a.m. Monday, the department's release stated.
El Paso County uses the Everbridge system to notify residents during emergencies. A partnership with the ReachWell app enables Peak Alerts to be delivered in 130 languages, and residents do not need to create a separate account or submit personal information to receive those notifications.
Microchip eliminated nearly 240 positions at the Colorado Springs plant in March 2024, having employed more than 1,250 workers there as recently as 2023.
Whether the incident caused any equipment damage or operational disruption at the facility has not been confirmed by the company or fire officials.