When night-shift employees of Imperial Sugar Company’s refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia reported for work on Feb. 7, 2008, they had no reason to suspect that a disaster was about to occur. Visitors to the plant on that night, or any night prior, would have found its interior encased in sugar and sugar dust. The residue rested on conduits, covered machinery and coated the floor. The white particulate — inches deep in several places — looked innocuous enough, but it posed an insidious hazard of which many employees were unaware: the dust was highly combustible. The refinery had operated for more than eighty years without a major incident, but that night, everything changed when an explosion near a conveyor belt triggered a chain reaction of violent explosions that devastated the facility and took the lives of 14 workers. As is too often the case in events such as this, inadequate training and incomplete emergency preparation were among the factors leading to the tragedy. The Chemical Safety Board, which investigated the accident, also cited the Normalization of Deviance as a direct cause. Analyzing this case emphasizes the importance of guarding against complacency, maintaining strict safety standards, and cultivating a culture of preparedness.