Extreme Heat Triggers Fire at Weapons Depot in Former US Base in Iraq

A fire has broken out at a major military base north of Baghdad, which once housed US-led coalition forces. Iraqi authorities announced that the blaze was caused by soaring temperatures triggering extreme heat in the country. The Iraqi Ministry of Defence, in a statement reported by AFP on Monday (3/8/2026), said the fire occurred in a warehouse within the Camp Taji military base complex on Sunday (2/8) local time. “The fire occurred in a warehouse at Camp Taji due to high temperatures,” said Iraqi Ministry of Defence spokesman Yehia Rasool in his statement. Rasool said the warehouse that caught fire was a weapons depot, which stored “ammunition belonging to the 9th Armoured Division”. Iraq’s government security media unit separately reported that the fire at the military complex was punctuated by a series of explosions. “An explosion occurred inside Camp Taji and a number of munitions exploded due to the heat,” the Iraqi government security media unit stated. It was also mentioned that firefighters were working to extinguish the flames raging at the military complex. Camp Taji is a major Iraqi military base that previously housed US-led anti-extremist coalition troops. Since the beginning of this year until next September, the US has withdrawn its forces from military bases in Iraq, including Camp Taji. A series of explosions at military bases and ammunition depots is a relatively frequent incident in Iraq. Safety standards in Iraq are often neglected, with fire incidents increasing during the scorching summer months, with temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius.