A German-owned warehouse in Schwieberdingen containing personal property
belonging to military and civilian members of the Stuttgart military
community was destroyed by fire Saturday, October 30, 2010.

The warehouse, owned by Andres Christ Spedition and Mobeltransport GmbH, a
U.S. contracted moving company, was the main storage site for U.S. personal
property shipments in the Stuttgart area.

The fire destroyed shipments for 106 Stuttgart families, according to
officials at Christ GMBH.

These families are being notified today, November 2, by U.S. Army Garrison
Stuttgart officials.

"We're going to do everything we can do to help the families recuperate what
they lost, but we fully understand folks will have lost sentimental and
irreplaceable items. This is not an easy situation to deal with, however,
military families are resilient, and we have a great community to support
them," said Colonel Carl D. Bird, U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart commander.

To support the needs of the affected families, information briefings
covering claim procedures, entitlements, temporary furnishings and lodging
extensions will be held November 3 at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Panzer Chapel.

Child care will be offered at the chapel.

A Family Assistance Center will be stood up at Army Community Service
(second floor, Building 2915, Panzer Kaserne) starting November 3 from 8 a.m. to
6 p.m. to assist and inform those service members, civilian employees and
families affected by this unfortunate incident.

Representatives from housing, inbound personnel property, human resources,
finance, Army Emergency Relief, religious support and civilian personnel
offices, along with military and family life counselors, will be available
at the FAC to provide support.

The garrison has set up a FAC hotline at 431-2334/civ. 07031-15-2334 that
will be available starting today, November 2, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., until
further notice.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by German authorities.

Command Information Chief
USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs Office