These devices not only generate a lot of heat at high temperatures, but also generate a lot of pure gaseous oxygen; this sustained the fire even as the cargo hold, cabin, and flight deck filled with combustion products. The intensity of the fire was greatly exacerbated by the presence of no fewer then three aircraft tires in the cargo hold, around which the boxes of chemical oxygen generators (144 in all) had been packed. At least one of these tires was mounted on a wheel and pressurized; a pressure transient was recorded on the cockpit data recorder that corresponded to its explosive failure.
The ground crew essentially assembled a non-extinguishable incendiary device in the cargo hold, through which cables and wires ran from the cockpit to almost every area of the aircraft.