BATAVIA, Ill. – A Curwood/Bemis employee at a facility in Batavia, Ill., was slightly injured on the morning of July 1 due to a chemical flash fire. After the fire slightly singed his forearms, he received medical treatment, reports the Kane Country Chronicle.

Although local firefighters arrived at the scene at 11:12 a.m. and had the blaze under control within eight minutes, it caused an estimated $5,000 in damage to the building and its contents. The Batavia Fire Department reports the flash-fire began when an employee mixed flammable chemicals without proper grounding; a static-electricity charge may have sparked the blaze.

As a result, the ceiling of the flammable liquids storage room was singed, which caused a foam system to activate and flood the room with a fire suppressant foam preventing the fire from doing further damage.

Curwood/Bemis is a leading provider of value-added packaging and packaging machinery.