Louisiana National Guard has issued a statement Friday on Camp Minden's Monday night explosions and 7000 feet mushroom cloud, but Hazardous Materials Unit in Baton Rouge and others investigating could take months before determining the cause, officials said Friday about the area that will remain off-limits until after completing cleanup.

Below is a statement released Friday by the Louisiana National Guard about the explosion at Camp Minden just before midnight Monday.

On Monday night the Camp Minden post security heard a loud sound which could have been a possible explosion. Subsequently, the post security physically surveyed the camp in accordance with established protocols and conferred with contractor tenants who stated that they were not able to confirm the origination of the sound.

Upon daylight on Tuesday morning, a Camp Minden tenant organization, Explo Inc., discovered that one of their storage areas had exploded and reported the incident to the Louisiana National Guard. Following this report, the Louisiana National Guard notified local authorities and the Louisiana State Police of the explosion in accordance with standard protocol.

The substance that exploded was a smokeless powder and does not pose a threat outside of Camp Minden. Explo is currently conducting clean-up operations of the site. The incident is under investigation by the LSP. The incident area is a restricted area and will remain off limits to anyone other than authorized individuals due to normal operational security and safety requirements.


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