BLAZE AT ARSENAL REIGNITES

By Wilson Brown/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
FRIday,  June 10, 2005 

Flames that destroyed a warehouse of white phosphorus at the Pine Bluff Arsenal on Monday reignited Thursday after temperatures rose to 90 degrees in Pine Bluff.

The highly flammable chemical reignited about 1:30 p.m. and was expected to burn itself out by 5 p.m. Thursday, Arsenal officials said.

Smoke and flames started while two investigation teams were studying the cause of Monday's blaze, said Lt. Col. Searless Hathaway, acting commander of the Arsenal.

Investigators were moved away from the scene until the smoke dissipated, Hathaway said at a news conference Thursday.

"The cause is when white phosphorus hits 90 degrees -- that's its reignited temperature. It hit approximately 90 degrees outside with the heat index," said Thomas J. Braumuller, assistant fire chief for the Arsenal fire department.

Hot temperatures caused the chemicals to turn into a liquid, he said, and it exposed itself to air, making smoke plumes and a fire.

The two teams tapped by the Arsenal to investigate Monday's fire were on an elevated platform directly over the destroyed warehouse when the fire reignited, Braumuller said.

"The canisters began to reignite, produce smoke and produce flames, and we had to withdraw them very quickly under a fire suppressant water current," he said.

No one has been injured in either fire, Hathaway said.

"We're trying to get the smoke pulled down so it doesn't leave the Arsenal. It stays on the Arsenal this time," Hathaway said. "We learned some things from early Monday morning."

Monday's fire sent white, hazy clouds of phosphorus smoke into the air, over the river and into parts of Jefferson County.

Residents near the Arsenal meanwhile can expect to see white plumes if the temperatures don't drop.

"This is going to be intermittent until the investigative procedure is over," Braumuller said Thursday. "Tomorrow when it hits 90 degrees again, you may hear about another small plume coming out of the area."

Arsenal crews are unable to move the evidence of Monday's fire until Fire Cause Investigations and an Army accident investigation board are done with their investigations, according to Hathaway.

"We are working on avenues of approach to clear this up," Hathaway said. "We can't do anything until the investigation teams finish.

"Once they take their pictures we'll work together and work out some options," she said. "But the main option we want to take is the one that will help protect our community, our workers and the investigators."

Arsenal officials did not say how long they expect the investigations to take.

Monday and Thursday's fires are not related to the chemical weapons incineration process at the Arsenal or the fires that have happened there, Hathaway said.

"Everybody is trying to relate this fire to the chemical demil operation," Hathaway said. "It is totally separate. I cannot state that any stronger. It has nothing to do with the chemical munitions."

The Arsenal uses white phosphorus in smoke screen grenades and in incendiary devices, according to Raini Wright, an Arsenal spokeswoman.

The phosphorus was being housed in canisters, not ammunition rounds, Hathaway has said.

The Arsenal is the Army's sole supplier of white phosphorus ammunitions in the Western Hemisphere, Wright has said.

Prolonged contact with the chemical can be harmful, according to officials with the Arsenal and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, causing coughing, watery eyes and difficulty breathing.

Jefferson County Judge Jack Jones said his office is interviewing residents between Sherrill and the Arkansas River who called in earlier this week and complained about irritated skin or eyes.

Jones also applauded the Arsenal for being "on top of the situation" and said the Arsenal could learn from the two fires.

"We can actually take this as a study model to help them to see if what they've projected in the past really works or not," Jones said. "Not only would that same information be good if we have a derailment on the railroad or a tanker on the highway -- we need to take it and turn it into something positive."