1,000 evacuated after Louisiana bomb plant blasts
Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:26pm ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A series of explosions rocked a military bomb recycling plant at a National Guard base in northwestern Louisiana on Thursday and more than 1,000 people were evacuated from surrounding areas.
Officials said a fire broke out at the plant on 15,000-acre (6,000-hectare) Camp Minden, which appeared to have set off at least 10 explosions of munitions that included 10-ton bombs.
There were no significant injuries and everyone in the plant, had been accounted for, they said.
Webster Parish Fire Department chief Jimmy Bell told Reuters by telephone that the explosions occurred at Explo Systems Inc. plant, which defuses unused military munitions and recycles them.
"Some of the explosions have had more force than others," he said. They rocked buildings 12 miles away from the facility, he said.
Louisiana Army National Guard Lt. Col. Carl Thompson, assistant commander of Camp Minden, told CNN that all emergency personnel had been pulled back from the plant and would allow the fire to burn itself out.
The evacuees included residents of the town of Doyline, 35 miles east of Shreveport, Louisiana, students from nearby schools and inmates at a prison located on the base, officials said.
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HOUSTON (Reuters) - A series of explosions rocked a military bomb recycling plant at a National Guard base in northwestern Louisiana on Thursday and more than 1,000 people were evacuated from surrounding areas.
Officials said a fire broke out at the plant on 15,000-acre (6,000-hectare) Camp Minden, which appeared to have set off at least 10 explosions of munitions that included 10-ton bombs.
There were no significant injuries and everyone in the plant, had been accounted for, they said.
Webster Parish Fire Department chief Jimmy Bell told Reuters by telephone that the explosions occurred at Explo Systems Inc. plant, which defuses unused military munitions and recycles them.
"Some of the explosions have had more force than others," he said. They rocked buildings 12 miles away from the facility, he said.
Louisiana Army National Guard Lt. Col. Carl Thompson, assistant commander of Camp Minden, told CNN that all emergency personnel had been pulled back from the plant and would allow the fire to burn itself out.
The evacuees included residents of the town of Doyline, 35 miles east of Shreveport, Louisiana, students from nearby schools and inmates at a prison located on the base, officials said.
Link Here
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