The accidental ignition of a yellow smoking marker occurred when a technician removed it from the wood pallet where it had been stored. The technician, who detected the anomaly by the sound emitted at the time of initiating the pyrotechnic delay sequence, called another pyrotechnics employee. Given the type of phenomenon involved, featuring a flameless smoke outside the object, the two technicians decided to remove the munitions device from the building. Fire-fighters who had been previously alerted sprinkled heavy quantities of water, then a crew member wearing protective gear sprayed water on the marker, which was being held by a rope at the shore. Combustion continued until the smoky composition had been entirely spent. During marker handling, the ignited nautical rope, which had not been confined, got stuck in the storage pallet. The technician triggered the ignition system by simply lifting the marker, which had not been fitted with its rope protection and remained exposed outside its container.

For markers received onsite, the operator imposed installing a rope protection, should one be missing, and then placing the markers in their individual containers, should the delivery arrive unpacked. The operator built awareness among users of the risks incurred of the untimely ignition by pulling on these nautical ropes and moreover proposed a modification to the marker design.