international monitoring regimes. The 15-nation body was expected to consider the
issue the week of October 31. The interim prime minister said the transitional
government in recent days had discovered chemical arms in the nation's capital, the
Xinhua News Agency reported. There have been conflicting reports on whether all
chemical warfare materials found by opposition forces had been previously declared
under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Source:
Indiana, started October 30 and burned into the night, sending up plumes of toxic, black
smoke and creating concerns about possible environmental effects. More than 40
firefighters responded to the blaze at Momper Insulation on West Main Street. No one
was inside the 34,000-square-foot warehouse at the time of the fire. Its cause was not
immediately known. The fire's billowing smoke was seen from miles away, and it
attracted crowds of onlookers. Meanwhile, fire officials urged people to keep their
distance. "Because of the insulation, because of the chemicals that they use inside of
the building, the smoke is toxic," a fire captain said. A few residents closer to the
warehouse were asked to evacuate, but fire officials said a large evacuation were not
needed. A fire chief said a haz-mat crew was monitoring toxicity levels in the air.
Firefighters were dispatched at 11:34 a.m. The fire captain said they initially entered
the warehouse, but had to leave when the fire intensified. A sidewall later collapsed,
hitting a firefighter, he said. The firefighter was treated at a hospital and released. Allen
County's Homeland Security director said a milky runoff from fighting the fire drained
into Junk Ditch, a stream that flows behind the warehouse and into the St. Marys River,
the Maumee River, and Lake Erie. To keep the contaminated runoff from spreading,
city crews dammed he stream with booms and sandbags, he said. Authorities
emphasized the city's drinking-water supply, which comes from the St. Joseph River,
was not at risk of contamination. Fire officials said the warehouse was a total loss.
Firefighters were on the scene through the night into October 31. Main Street remained
shut down from West Jefferson Boulevard to Leesburg Road.
Source:
runaway truck ramp on Vail Pass in Vail, Colorado, October 30. The incident closed
westbound Interstate 70 for about 7 hours. The truck was hauling 4,950 gallons of a
methanol-based mixture, and less than 100 gallons spilled into the Black Gore Creek,
said a Colorado State Patrol trooper. The driver reportedly lost his brakes and called
“mayday” on his CB radio. He was unable to take a truck ramp because of heavy traffic
in the right lane, and continued down the pass at speeds approaching 85 miles per hour.
The truck exited the interstate at mile marker 182, 2 miles east of East Vail, and
traveled up the ramp at about 12:50 p.m. It did not roll over, but tipped enough to lose
its 15, 330-gallon storage containers, all of which were ruptured, officials said. Several