Careless cigarette ignites ammo box blaze

Courtesy Photo | An amnesty box containing trash, cigarette butts, live ammunition and an 82mm mortar round burst into flames July 23 at Joint Base Balad. A carelessly discarded cigarette is strongly suspected as the cause of the blaze.  

BASRA, IRAQ

08.02.2009

Story by Pfc. J.P. Lawrence 

34th Red Bull Infantry Division

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq — Common sense can be defined as knowledge we assume to be universal, but know is not. So it really shouldn't surprise you to hear that last week someone threw a lit cigarette into an amnesty box and almost detonated an 82mm mortar round.

To recap: an amnesty box at Joint Base Balad burst into flames in the early morning hours July 23. The wooden box was filled with trash, cigarette butts, live ammunition and an 82mm mortar round.

"It is apparent a cigarette probably caused the fire," said Brian W. Barr, KBR, Inc. security manager at Balad.

The fire began around midnight. Security guards immediately evacuated the area and notified the fire department. Members of the fire department said they could hear rounds "cooking off" in the heat.

After fire personnel controlled the blaze, they began an inspection of the box and found the mortar round. They called Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel, who recovered the mortar round and cleared the area. Further investigation found the box full of trash and a large number of cigarette butts, which is something 34th Infantry Division personnel stress should not happen.

"The amnesty boxes are for amnesty ammunition," Lt. Col. Kelly Nelson, deputy mayor of Contingency Operating Base Basra and a Walker, Minn., native. "You should not put high explosive ordinance in there. You should not put trash in there. You should not put cigarette butts in there."

Amnesty boxes are designed to hold ammunition only, not General Order One violations. Pornographic material, alcohol and other items are not to be disposed of in amnesty boxes.

"The reason we have amnesty boxes is to keep ammunition accountable," said Master Sgt. John Lomax, a Lakeville, Minn., native and 34th Red Bull Infantry Division ammunition non-commissioned officer-in-charge. "We don't want Soldiers leaving ammunition on the ground or throwing it in the canals. If Soldiers find ammunition, we want them to return it so it stays in the system."

"They give Soldiers an opportunity to dispose of ammunition without prejudice," said Nelson.

A patchwork network of amnesty boxes installed by previous administrations currently serves Soldiers at COB Basra, but Nelson said the mayor's cell plans to replace those boxes with 12 new amnesty boxes by early August.

"They will not be placed in areas where there is a high concentration of people," said Nelson, differentiating between high-concentration areas, where many people congregate, with high-traffic areas, where a high quantity of Soldiers pass through.

"Amnesty boxes are not trashcans," said Maj. Juan Perez, an Indianapolis native and the 34th Inf. Div. tactical safety officer. "Soldiers have to use common sense and discipline or someone is going to get hurt."

• Date Taken: 08.02.2009
• Date Posted: 08.03.2009 06:05
• Story ID: 37078
• Location: BASRA, IQ