[Nadya]

If the Reddit thread is at all reputable, this occurred at a Steel Mill in Kentucky by a disgruntled employee. It's used as a safety instruction video for new employees to show what happens when wet meets steel.

A good reason to properly rotate the steel so that it has time to dry completely. It's also why the floor is usually padded dirt and not concrete, as concrete has pores and voids that make it explode and send concrete shrapnel everywhere.

If discussing the video I linked - it was for demonstration about fire safety.

[JoeAltmaier]

Local metal recycler has an electric arc furnace. Old fencing, bicycles, chunks of cars, whatever goes into the furnace to be melted.

A water heater, still filled with water, stuck to the side of the crucible. When most of the metal was flat-bath (all melted and liquid) the water heater fell loose into the 2000 degree pool.

The resulting explosion blew out the side of the furnace, raining shrapnel and droplets of steel on everything in a 20 foot radius. A man was standing there.

It took half a year for him to return to work, much scarred both physically and mentally. He still can't go back into the furnace room. They found other work for him in the yard and office.