A 19-year-old male is brought to the emergency department 18 hours after a heavy metal farm gate crushed his right thigh in a muddy field. On arrival, his temperature is 39.8°C, heart rate is 118 bpm, and blood pressure is 98/62 mmHg. The right thigh is markedly swollen with a bronze-brown discoloration of the overlying skin. Palpation of the wound produces a crackling sensation. He reports pain disproportionate to what is visible. Urine collected by catheter appears dark brown. Serum hemoglobin is 8.4 g/dL. Gram stain of wound exudate shows large gram-positive rods; no inflammatory cells are identified anywhere on the slide.
Which of the following most likely accounts for this patient's presentation?