Abstract: On September 23, 2003, a filling machine operator was calibrating a filling machine in the contract packaging facility, when a 55-gallon drum of flammable waste liquids, ethanol and ethyl acetate, flashed. The resulting explosion caused an 0.5 gallon container of ethanol which had been sitting on top of the 55-gallon drum, to ignite and fall to the floor. The ethanol then splashed onto the operator's leg, causing her pants to catch on fire resulting in first, second, and third degree burns to her leg. The source of ignition is suspected to have been an exothermic reaction between the waste liquids and chemical residues already in the 55-gallon drum. The operator was hospitalized and treated for burns.