Half of Louisiana town where HBO series 'True Blood' is filmed evacuated as police find 6million POUNDS of illegally-stored explosives



Louisiana state police are launching a criminal investigation of a company after finding about 6million pounds of explosive material that they say was stored illegally.

Authorities are evacuating the town of Doyline, about 270 miles northwest of New Orleans. About half the town's 800 residents left Friday.

The evacuation was voluntary, and some residents elected not to leave their homes in the town that has been used to film scenes for the HBO vampire series 'True Blood.'

Explosive: Six million pounds of improperly-stored explosives raised safety concerns and prompted the evacuation of a small Louisiana town today

Alarming: The explosives were stored in Northwest Louisiana by a company called Explo Systems Inc. in Doyline; authorities have evacuated half of the town

State police superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson said Sunday that boxes and small barrels of the M6 artillery propellant were found both outdoors and crammed into unauthorized buildings.

The property was leased by Explo Systems Inc. at Camp Minden, the former Louisiana Army Ammunitions Plant.



M6 propellant is used in howitzers and other artillery. Police began investigating the company after an explosion at the site October 15.



Edmondson told Kltv : 'That's a lot of product, a lot of dangers in there, there are a lot of worst case scenarios, we need to work through those safely.

'They are a resilient town and community, and I certainly want to make sure safety is the number one priority.'



The scene on the ground at Camp Minden

The cleanup has frayed the nerves of residents who evacuated, closed the high school and spawned a criminal investigation of the company that owns the materials.

Authorities said about half the town's 800 residents had heeded requests that they leave during the cleanup that started Saturday, but some appeared to be trickling back to their homes.



Some displaced residents were exasperated by the sheer volume of explosive material, which is more than authorities initially estimated.



Adding to the uncertainty was a forecast of thunderstorms Tuesday that could slow efforts to move the propellant used in artillery shells to safer storage sites.

State police say some of the propellant was found spilling out of boxes crammed into buildings, and they have opened a criminal investigation into why the materials were not stored in bunkers at the state-owned site, leased by Explo Systems.

Weather could complicate the transfer of roughly 6million pounds of explosives.



True fear: Some scenes of the HBO vampire series 'True Blood' are filmed in this town; Anna Paquin and Ryan Kwanten pictured

If lightning is spotted within five miles of the site, authorities will suspend efforts to move the artillery propellant, Lt. Julie Lewis said.



No lightning was expected Monday, but thunderstorms were forecast for Tuesday.

Col. Mike Edmondson, commander of Louisiana State Police, said the material is stable and would need an ignition source to explode.



The precautions were taken because officials fear that any spark could set off a huge explosion of the material, which they said was stored improperly in a relatively small area.