Abstract: Four employees were engaged in finding a polymer plug that would occasionally occur due to polymerization in the line. They had performed a line break and had reassembled the line, and then opened a tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) valve at a silica gel tower. This allowed full pressure on the line. Due to a poorly connected flange, air had been introduced into the line after reassembly and when the TFE came into contact with the air a fire resulted leading to an explosion of the tower. Two of the four employees were unable to escape the fire, and two others escaped the fire scene. However, only one of the two employees that escaped survived and was hospitalized with burns.