Five Injured in Explosion and Fire at Pennsylvania Army Depot

An apparent explosion and resulting fire injured five people at an Army depot in southern Pennsylvania on Thursday, a military spokeswoman said. The cause of the blast was being investigated.

The explosion took place in the morning at the Letterkenny Army Depot, an 18,000-acre site in the borough of Chambersburg, Lisa Hunter, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, said in a statement.

It set off a fire in the “paint shop” of a building at the site, where paint and thinner are stored and mixed to eventually be sprayed on parts and other products, she said.

“The Letterkenny Army Depot’s Safety specialists are conducting an investigation into the cause of the incident, so we can determine what happened,” Col. Stephen Ledbetter, the depot commander, said in the statement.

Asked whether the blast might have been a terroristic act or intentionally set, Hunter said in an email: “While we do not suspect terrorism, no cause can truly be ruled out until the investigation is completed.”

The employees who were injured are civilians working for the Department of the Army, she said. At least one of them was treated for smoke inhalation and released, she said. The conditions of the others were not provided.

The Franklin Fire Company said that three burn victims had to be transported to hospitals by air.

The depot, a major employer of residents in Franklin County, was originally established to store ammunition. It is about 130 miles west of Philadelphia, and employs about 3,600 people, according to its website.

Its work involves developing and maintaining support for missions; air and missile defense readiness, including production of the Patriot missile; and anti-tank missile and mobile artillery rocket systems.

The explosion took place around 7:15 a.m. Eastern time at what is known as Building 350, a statement on the depot’s Facebook page said.

A report by the television station ABC 27 said employees had seen two co-workers run “out of a building screaming and on fire, one with chemical burns.” Workers were evacuated from the paint area of the building, the report said.

The depot’s statement said the rest of its workforce had been accounted for.