Bridgeport, NJ, December 10, 2001-Batches of large envelopes and magazines were destroyed after catching fire during irradiation.
Officials believe that two separate fires, which burned 90 pounds of mail, were the result of overheating during the irradiating process used to decontaminate quarantined mail from a Hamilton, NJ post office. They believe that material present in the mail caused the overheating. Officials did not state what the materials were, but are setting up a screening process to check future items for such materials.
