Following the Springfield fire, a fire in a Glendale, Arizona warehouse storing similar swimming pool chemicals totally destroyed the building on August 21, 1988. Rainstorms had moved through the area shortly before the fire. On arrival, the building was well involved in fire. Heavy red-brown smoke, probably due to nitrogen-trichloride, was issuing from the building, and explosions could be heard inside the structure.
The warehouse was fully sprinklered, but it is possible that the sprinkler piping may have been damaged, since only a slight amount of water was coming from the water motor gong. Eventually, the roof collapsed. Extinguishment was accomplished through an external attack. Approximately 200-300 people were evacuated from the area.
Even though the cause is officially listed as undetermined, review of the circumstances of the Springfield fires suggested rain leakage as a possible cause scenario for the Glendale fire. The most likely explanation of the red-brown smoke was the presence of nitrogen oxides that were released along with chlorine when trichloroisocyanuric acid breaks down in reaction to heat.
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