PINE BLUFF — Another fire was reported Tuesday morning at the Chemical Agent Disposal Facility at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, this one in the explosive containment room, officials said.

Disposal of M55 rockets containing the nerve agent GB had paused when a portion of a rocket ignited, causing a small flame, according to a news release.

There was no release of GB from the facility, according to the release, and no employees were endangered.

Randy Long, site project manager for the Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, said the cause of the fire is under review.

Rocket disposal at the facility was halted this summer while investigators tried to determine the cause of five fires at the Pine Bluff facility and a similar facility in Oregon. The two Pine Bluff fires occurred in May; the three in Oregon occurred in April.

Nitroglycerine, seeping through a protective coating into the space between the rocket motor and the steel tube housing, was the likely cause of the fires, the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency determined. Nitroglycerine is extremely volatile.

This story was published Friday, December 02, 2005.