New Zealand Fire Sparks Mustard Gas Scare

Firefighters in New Zealand contained a fire that could have produced mustard gas, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 17, 2004).

A fire in a milk-producing factory town of Takaka threatened to ignite chemical silos containing caustic soda and sulfuric acid. New Zealand fire official Rob Allan said these chemicals combined in fire would produce the agent.

Residents were temporarily evacuated as a precaution, AP reported.

A spokesman for Fonterra Group, which operates the factory, said the facility was closed at the time. The cause of the fire is unclear (Associated Press/Yahoo News, June 21). 

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