WHITE HALL, Ark. (AP) -- A leak in a container of white phosphorus is suspected to have ignited the fire that destroyed a warehouse at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, investigators said Tuesday.
An investigation team discovered a pallet in the warehouse where they believe the fire began on June 6, Arsenal Commander Col. Tom Woloszyn said Tuesday.
Woloszyn said that reports from the investigation will not be available for two weeks.
''I don't expect them out this week. I want a thorough report. I don't want a quick one,'' he said.
The fire, which produced billowing white smoke visible from downtown Pine Bluff, about six miles away, was in an area miles away from a recently completed incinerator that is destroying the arsenal's chemical weapons stockpile.
Security guards spotted the fire about midnight on June 6 and the blaze was brought under control about an hour later, arsenal spokeswoman Raini Wright said.
Firefighters let the fire burn out that evening and reported it completely out by 7 p.m., approximately 19 hours after the fire started.
The fire destroyed more than 7,500 canisters of white phosphorus, a chemical the Arsenal uses to fill incendiary devices and 155-millimeter shells.
The arsenal is the Army's sole supplier of white phosphorus ammunition, but Woloszyn said the fire will have no impact on the Arsenal's phosphorus production.
''Those containers were not scheduled to be put into the rounds themselves,'' he said.
The Pine Bluff Arsenal is home to 12 percent of the nation's chemical weapons stockpile, and destruction of nerve and mustard gas weapons began recently.
Two unexpected fires at the chemical weapons incinerator here, and three at a similar facility in Oregon since April 7, forced temporary shutdowns of the incinerator.
