Cold storage fire protection is shaped by one unavoidable constraint: water cannot be left in sprinkler piping inside a subfreezing space. That rules out the wet pipe systems used almost everywhere else and forces dry pipe or antifreeze systems, both of which introduce a delay between the sprinkler operating and water reaching the fire. In a high-challenge storage fire, that delay is the whole problem, which is why NFPA 13 places limits on water delivery time and why system volume and air pressure management matter far more here than in ordinary occupancies.
The second hazard is structural and largely invisible. Cold storage is built from insulated metal panels, and the insulating core in older construction is frequently polyurethane or polystyrene foam, both combustible. A fire that breaches the metal facing enters the panel core and then propagates inside the wall and ceiling assembly, behind the steel skin, where sprinklers cannot reach it. The fire travels through the building envelope while the protected space appears controlled.
Where ammonia refrigeration is used, and it commonly is at industrial scale because of its efficiency, a third hazard is present. Ammonia is both toxic and, within a specific concentration range, flammable. A refrigeration system failure during a fire, or a fire that compromises the refrigeration piping, introduces a release hazard that governs how responders can approach the building. IIAR standards and NFPA requirements address the refrigeration system as its own protected system rather than as building equipment.