Fibers with an average diameter of 27 μm were successfully drawn from a heavy metal oxide (HMO) melt and investigated for use in the mid-IR. The 69PbO-13Bi2O3-18Ga2O3 (wt%) glass fibers were relatively easy to prepare and had an average tensile strength of 472 MPa and a Weibull modulus of 7.6. The cut-off in the visible and infrared was 0.48 and 7 μm, respectively. The surface morphology of the corroded glass fiber varied with the pH of the corrosion solution. The dissolution rate of this glass decreased from 4.9×10-6 to 9.6×10-7 to 1.3×10-7 g cm-2 min-1 for basic (pH = 10), acidic (pH = 4) and neutral (pH = 7) solutions, respectively. The techniques for preparing the fiber of this glass are also reported. © 1994.