Breaking: Fire at Baghdad ammo depot sets off chain reaction of explosions
posted at 5:40 pm on October 10, 2006 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
It’s on Fox and CNN right now. One flash after another for the past five or ten minutes, some of them enormous. Omar’s liveblogging it at Iraq the Model.
A metaphor for the whole war, really.
Update: No injuries reported yet but it’s hard to believe that’ll hold. Explosions are still going off.
Update: It’s happening at FOB Falcon:
The US military blamed the explosions on ammunition “cooking off” in the heat. They said they did not know what had caused the initial fire.
Blasts from the base, in the south of the city, were heard for miles around.
The BBC’s Andrew North, in Baghdad, said the explosions started at about 2300 (2100 BST) and were becoming “evermore frequent” as the fire appeared to be spreading.
Update: Hmmm.
Falcon is located at the southern entrance of Baghdad, near the violence-torn district of Dora, where U.S. troops have been focusing in a two-month-old sweep of the capital neighborhood-by-neighborhood aimed at rooting out militants and weapons.
Update: Everyone’s been safely evacuated from the base although some of the misfiring shells are landing in the city. They don’t know what caused the fire yet.
Update: “The Iraqi capital is burning,” says Hammorabi.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages:
I’m watching this and hoping that they’re right that no one has been hurt. I have no idea what fob my husband is on so I am worried. If anyone is the praying types, please pray that no oneis injured or worse. thanks, catie
Catie96706 on October 10, 2006 at 5:47 PM
Holy cow. Some massive explosions occuring.
BlueStateBlues on October 10, 2006 at 5:47 PM
Catie, both my husband and brother-in-law are there, too. I have no idea which fob; we will pray together.
BlueStateBlues on October 10, 2006 at 5:48 PM
BSB, prayers to you too!
Catie96706 on October 10, 2006 at 5:50 PM
Lucky mortar?
BlueStateBlues on October 10, 2006 at 6:00 PM
Yeah, I was wondering the same thing!
Catie96706 on October 10, 2006 at 6:23 PM
If so it’s inexcuseable. Iraq does not lack for sprawl.
Proper munitions storage disperses so as to preclude chain reaction type catastrophe. This is not an advancing force which might reasonably store munitions somewhat expeditiously.
Stephen M on October 10, 2006 at 6:44 PM
Reports are saying “cook-off” – If ammo gets too hot..boom!
If these reports are true, the base commander will not get promoted, ever again…You must monitor the temps at the ammo dump. This would be a preventable accident.
I served 3 years on an ammunition ship in the navy.
Marvin on October 10, 2006 at 7:46 PM
The cook off wouldnt be from high ambient temperatures, military explosives are insensitive and won’t detonate just because they are left outside on a hot day. You have to have something like an explosion or a hot fire to get things started, and from there it is just a matter of time until the fire gets to a high enough temperature in the right places before this or that detonates.
kaltes on October 10, 2006 at 7:55 PM
I’m not saying that’s what happened, but yes, some military explosive items do go up if they get too hot.
Bomb Doctor on October 10, 2006 at 7:58 PM
Are the DU/koz kiddies leaping for joy? I can’t stomach any more of them right now.
SouthernGent on October 10, 2006 at 8:06 PM
This is unfortunate and I certainly hope nobody was hurt but ammunition dump explosions happen sometimes. In Veitnam they were not an everyday event but they did happen from time to time. Let’s hope the dingbat left doesn’t try to exploit this accident. Actually, there has been suprisingly few ammunition dump accidents in Iraq.
rplat on October 10, 2006 at 8:10 PM
Since the initial reports are saying no injuries among the base personnel, I would bet this was an accidental fire that got out of control.
Marvin on October 10, 2006 at 9:15 PM
Lucky mortar, indeed.
BlueStateBlues on October 11, 2006 at 9:08 AM
Comment pages: