Abstract: On August 15, 1998, a structural fire occurred at SMF, Inc. Following the fire, Employee #1 was engaged in cleanup activities. Shortly thereafter, he died of what the coroner reported to be hypertensive cardiovascular disease. The investigation, which included extensive interviews with coworkers, did not reveal evidence of any chemical exposure during the cleanup activities. The medical workup conducted by the Occupational Health Service Institute at the University of Illinois-Chicago did not find an etiology of Employee #1's symptoms. The attending physician stated that, in the absence of any other etiology, the clinic concluded that the temporal association of Employee #1's symptoms and the cleanup after the fire offered the more likely explanation. The clinic did not find any evidence of toxic exposure, however. The Woodford County coroner stated that extensive toxicological testing conducted on Employee #1's brain cell samples did not show any evidence of toxic exposure. His death was determined not to be work-related.