By July of 1991, most of the troops still in Kuwait City were awaiting orders to pack and
go home. However, a fiery catastrophe suddenly unleashed, and what began as a small fire in one
of the M992 Ammunition carriers stationed at the Motor Pool in Doha Base soon went out of control.
The soldiers executed one valiant effort after another to quell the flames,
but suppressing the fire was futile; the blazes spread from one vehicle to another,
and the people in the area soon got orders to retreat and allow the fire to run its course.
As the ammunition inside the vehicles started to cook off and burst in an
erratic din of destruction, the soldiers fled and tried to keep their distance,
with some of them managing to capture video of the chaotic scene.
The fire that annihilated more US armor vehicles than any other event going back to World War
2 then turned into a colossal explosion that broke through the air in a blazing
mushroom that shook the earth, followed by a dark column of smoke and debris.
More explosions followed, and since some of the damaged ammunition was
composed of highly radioactive depleted uranium,
the scene was about to become a chemical hazard, prompting everyone to run for their lives...
Mission Accomplished
On paper, the objective set by the US-led coalition during the Gulf War had been a success;
they had pushed the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, crippled their military capabilities,
and effectively liberated the tiny country from the hands of the invading Iraqis.
However, not everything was as smooth as the US would have wanted, with the retreating invader
burning hundreds of oil wells, causing billions of dollars in economic loss for Kuwait and severe
health issues for the coalition soldiers in the area who had to breathe the contaminated air.
Despite the bittersweet results, the US and other coalition members signed an official ceasefire on
February 28, 1991. The war was over, but there were still many issues to resolve.
Many American troops in the region stayed in Kuwait several months after the ceasefire
to help restore the local government and keep the peace. At the same time,
they solved the logistical obstacles of the incoming withdrawal.
In the outskirts of Kuwait City, Camp Doha had been one of the main
headquarters of US operations during the conflict,
and had become a sprawling military compound and a hub for the US military bustling with activity.
Mostly rectangular in shape and lying along the north/south axis, the station was bordered by
the Doha Road that ran north to the waterfront and another road passing to the east and going
up the peninsula, making the base’s northern half more expansive than the southern one.
The compound was divided into two sections, with the southern section
comprising a series of big warehouses with a triangular motor pool in the middle.
There was also a series of barracks buildings, a northern motor pool,
and two other sizable rectangular motor pools on the southern boundary in the north section.
In addition, the base had an extraordinary capacity for the storage,
maintenance, and repair of armored and utility vehicles, making it the site with
more stationed military vehicles out of any other compound during the conflict in Kuwait.
It would be right there that the worst one-day
material disaster since World War 2 scourged the US military.
The Fire
The location where the flames broke out was reserved for vehicles belonging to
the 2nd Squadron, US 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment,
the only part of the 11th Cavalry that remained in the compound. The other two squadrons had been
deployed to the field on July 11 to serve as a deterrence against Iraqi aggression.
These remaining troops were left behind to guard the base and maintain the vehicles
to conduct routine upkeep and preparations for their eventual transportation out of the country.
The vehicles were packed tightly into rows in their assigned motor pool, and a row of
M992 Ammunition carriers stood out from all the other M109 Self-Propelled guns and M2 Bradleys.
At around 10:20am, a fire started in the heater of one of the M992 Ammunition Carriers.
The vehicle held a load of 155-millimeter artillery shells,
which immediately concerned the servicemen at the scene as they spotted the fire.
The witnesses immediately conducted extensive efforts to fight the growing flames,
but the fire would not subside, and when it began to spread to the neighboring loaded vehicles,
the order was given to retreat.
The troops working at the Motor Pool evacuated first, followed by all remaining
personnel inside the base, many of whom didn’t know the details of the incident.
At this moment, serviceman Ray Hasil turned on his camcorder to capture the soldiers fleeing the
raging fire. Then, as he documented the smoke from the fire, a massive explosion shook the ground.
Explosions
The M992 where the fire began exploded first;
the vehicle was instantly wrecked during the blast, which scattered artillery
submunitions or bomblets over numerous vehicles, triggering a chain reaction.
Like the first M992, the vehicles around it were
all laden with ammunition in preparation for possible combat against Iraqi forces.
Thus, as other vehicles caught fire or were hit by ignited pieces of ammunition,
the cycle repeated, causing several explosions that could be seen from a considerable distance.
At noon, about an hour or so after the first blast, the 22nd Support Command reported that
the entire Motor Pool was on fire, with up to 40 vehicles burning or exploding so far.
To make matters worse, the authorities also reported that several depleted uranium rounds
were involved, which instantly added another layer of peril. The metal is often used for
armor-piercing rounds by the military as it is 60 percent denser than lead. It is also radioactive
and can cause radiation poisoning, especially when significantly damaged.
The troops were advised to wear protective masks and stay upwind of the disaster area,
now considered a chemical hazard. However, most servicemen had their
masks stored elsewhere and had to go on without protective gear.
The flames and devastation continued for several hours, with the fire considered too dangerous
to be put out. The continuous explosions caused considerable damage to the buildings around the
Doha base, and glass windows as far as Kuwait City shattered due to the chained blasts.
Aftermath
Numerous soldiers were injured at the initial attempt to put out the fire and while fleeing
the scene. And in total, 102 vehicles were lost to the fire, with many others getting damaged.
The catastrophe was a severe blow for Kuwait’s American
military. The damaged vehicles amounted to 23.3 million dollars in 1991 currency,
and another 14.7 million were lost in destroyed ammunition.
In addition, the damage to the surrounding buildings amounted to 2.3 million dollars
before considering the hefty clean-up cost.
This task became even more dangerous than the initial incident,
and preliminary efforts were halted as the scene continued to be too risky
and the troops on location were not trained to conduct a proper clean-up operation.
Even when specially trained personnel arrived at the location, the danger was overwhelming;
two senior officers and a serviceman from 58th Combat Engineer Company lost their lives
when some of the ordnance exploded.
The tragedy forced all clean-up to be postponed until mid-September to be executed by a new team
of experts and civilian contractors, and the consequences of radiation poisoning on the
troops and the minor details of the disaster were kept under wraps by the US military.
To this date, only a few pieces of footage can be openly found online,
with most of the evidence confiscated by the authorities.
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