MOSUL, IRAQ (June 29, 2003) - Firefighters and engineers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) continue working to extinguish a fire that erupted June 25 in a sulfur plant in Qayyarah, a small city south of Mosul.

Currently, the brigade is reporting the southern and western edges of fire as contained. Soldiers from the division's 1st Brigade and 326th Engineer Battalion along with the 938th Fire Fighting Detachment from New York have been working around the clock to extinguish the fire using as many as 16 bulldozers to push dirt over the fire and five fire trucks to spray water on the fire.

A shelter has been established in Qayyarah for displaced persons. The infantry soldiers had evacuated approximately 60 persons from the vicinity of the fire since June 26.

According to division medical personnel, the sulfuric smoke is a danger to all people, but especially to the elderly, asthmatic and young children. An elderly woman died June 25 from smoke-related complications.