In an explosives production plant, an explosion occurred while materials were being destroyed by means of burning. The substance involved, pentrite (which contains 25% water), exploded 12 min after burning had begun on the floor in the presence of a solvent (toluene). Both the floor and gutter sustained irreparable damage, while the protective screens, initially installed to avoid a chain detonation across the 10 floors of the burning zone, were blasted out. Exceeding both the critical height and explosion temperature, as a result of floor deformation and the solvent loading process, would have caused the accident. The site operator subsequently introduced periodic inspections of floor deformations and modified floor loads based on their relief (deformation).