Abstract: Employees #1 through #27 were working inside a building that contained various equipment for assembling aluminum alloy bicycle rims. This equipment included three conveyor-fed booths in which brushing and polishing were done. The booths had exhaust systems that deposited the aluminum dust into an enclosed basement. Heat or sparks from wheels that were being polished or brushed caused a fire that traveled from a booth to the basement and resulted in a tremendous explosion and additional fire. Employees #1 and #2 died; Employees #3, #4, #5, and #6 were critically injured; ten more workers were hospitalized with various injuries; and eleven other workers were treated at the hospital and released.