CAMDEN — At least two people were injured after an incident occurred at an industrial plant in East Camden.
At around 7 p.m. on Monday, emergency units from Ouachita and Calhoun Counties were dispatched to Esterline Defense Technologies in response to what a radio dispatcher labeled as an “explosion.”
Personnel from the Ouachita County and Calhoun County Sheriffs Offices were posted at the entrance of the facility to keep other cars from entering the area. Ouachita County Sheriff David Norwood said that the explosion occurred in Calhoun County and that he did not have any details as to what happened. Moments later, Calhoun County Sheriff Bob Dunn stopped as he was exiting the site of the accident and informed the Camden News that he did not know how the explosion happened, but that he believed two people were injured and that their injuries did not appear to be life threatening.
He added that the roof was blown off of the building, but the sides of the building were still intact. He added that the fire was under control, but the Camden Fire Department was staying behind for precautionary reasons.
Several witnesses who were near the entrance at Esterline said that the explosion was heard and felt throughout East Camden.
Camden Mayor Marie Trisollini reported on her Facebook page that the two were seriously injured and were air lifted to the burn unit at Arkansas Children Hospital in Little Rock.
A relative of one of the blast victims posted on Facebook today that
the person took "a blast to the face, which left some burns" on the face and chest, that her hands are "totally" burned, that she "took shrapnel to her left elbow - which will require surgery - and (has) a gash on her leg."
The relative said in the post that the woman's doctor is stating that the patient is "coherent and responding well.
Crowd control was requested over the Ouachita County radio scanner for the OCMC shortly after the explosion occurred so that the helicopters could arrive and leave the hospital area without delay.
The Camden News called Esterline’s East Camden facility for more details and was redirected to Esterline’s headquarters in Washington. An official statement and/or more details were requested via voice mail and email, but as of press time, there was no response.