Thursday, August 21, 2003

EXPLODING MAIL

Things not to ship while the temps are so high in Baghdad.

Following a fire in a U.S. military postal facility in Baghdad, postal officials have a message: Please use common sense when shipping to the Operation Iraqi Freedom theater.

With surface temperatures climbing as high as 140 degrees, officials there want loved ones to be cognizant of everyday items that might not travel well in such extremes.

“It should be common sense,” said Army Lt. Col. Frank Smith, Deputy Commander 3rd Personnel Command, or PERSCOM, at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. “Last week it reached 126 degrees here, and that’s what happened to our two pallets at the Baghdad airport.”

Smith and Sgt. Derek Stubbs, an administrative sergeant also with the 3rd PERSCOM, spoke with Stars and Stripes via phone.

What happened was a package that contained common plastic cigarette lighters and batteries ignited, destroying 50 to 75 packages under some netting on the pallets...

Aerosol cans are another high-risk item, Stubbs said.

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