One of the harsh realities of the oil sands became apparent on August 15, 1984, when approximately 2800 bbls of hydrocarbons were released and ignited after a "carbon steel pup piece" ruptured in slurry recycle line of a fluid coker. During the fire several other lines failed and added fuel to the fire. The coker was at least twice the size of any other coker located elsewhere in the world. The fire burned out of control for two hours. It took four hours to extinguish and 121 days to repair the damage and resume operations.  The damages, including loss of production, were in excess of half a billion dollars. All of this was the result of the improper installation of a piece of pipe approximately 18" long and 6" inches in diameter made of material that was not specified for that line. The piece had been inserted in 1979 during a maintenance shutdown. It was made of material that could not handle the very hot and scouring slurry mixture and eventually failed five years later. When it comes to the oil sands, the reality is that small mistakes can lead to big problems.