Families Against Cancer & Toxics

ANNISTON, Ala. (AP) -- A small fire broke out in a processing room at the Army's chemical weapons incinerator in east Alabama early Thursday, forcing officials to idle the plant.

A spokesman said no one was hurt in the blaze, which was extinguished by an automatic system. No equipment was damaged, but the site cannot resume destroying weapons until state regulators approve, said Donovan Mager, a spokesman for incinerator operator Westinghouse.

It is expected to remain idle a few days.

Workers were investigating the cause of the fire.

A company statement said empty bags used to collect wastes caught fire in an enclosed processing room where weapons were being handled, and an alarm sounded in the control room at 3:08 a.m. Firefighters from the Anniston Army Depot arrived around 3:24 a.m., but the fire was already out.

The fire was in a room built with 24-inch concrete-and-steel reinforced walls designed to contain an exploding weapon.

A small fire broke out in another processing room in November 2003, forcing workers to repair water hoses and sensor lines.

Located about 50 miles east of Birmingham, the incinerator currently is destroying artillery shells filled with sarin nerve gas. It previously destroyed rockets filled with the agent.