Abstract: At 10:45 a.m. on August 18, 2021, an employee working as a production tester for a specialty transformer manufacturer was preparing to cut the lid off a 55-gallon drum. The drum had contained varnish and the contents had been emptied into a vat. The drum was then placed in an oven and baked for approximately 8 hours. The employee was preparing to cut the lid with a plasma cutter. He touched the torch to the metal at which time the drum exploded. The caps to the lid had not been removed prior to the drum being processed causing some vapors to still be trapped inside the drum. The vapors ignited inside the drum causing the explosion. The employee was hospitalized to treat broken ribs and nerve damage to the lower portion of his right arm.