Abstract: At approximately 9:40 p.m. on September 7, 1999, an explosion occurred during melting operations of a Vacuum Arc Remelt (VAR) titanium furnace at the Oremet-Wah Chang facility located in Albany, Oregon. Although Employee #1 and four coworkers were sent to the local hospital for injuries sustained in the blast, only Employee #1 received injuries requiring long term medical treatment for burns to arms, face, and upper torso. Employee #1 also sustained a crushed left ankle requiring reconstructive surgery. He was actually working on another furnace adjacent to the one which exploded, operating an overhead pendant controlled crane when the explosion occurred. The VAR furnace exploded due to overheating because the cooling water was turned off and the water flow sensors were not calibrated properly.