Explosions reported at U.S. Army facility in Sagamihara, Japan

SAGAMIHARA, Japan, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- No casualties have been reported in a series of explosions that rocked a U.S. Army facility in Sagamihara, Japan.

The blasts occurred past midnight at the Sagami General Depot, a post of the U.S. Army's 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

Fox News quoted Pentagon spokesman U.S. Navy Commander Bill Urban as saying "base firefighters and first responders are currently fighting the resulting fire to prevent its spread to nearby buildings."

According to the U.S. Army, the 35th CSSB provides "depot operations and provides combat service support throughout the U.S. Army Japan and I Corps (Forward) area of operations."

The incident is under investigation, but Japan's Shingetsu News Agency tweeted that the explosions, which are reported to have occurred at 12:45 a.m. and continued for 10 minutes, may have been caused by an accidental fire in a warehouse filled with oxide cylinders.

It reported the U.S. military calling Japanese firefighters to the scene but putting restrictions on the use of water to douse the flames -- a precaution in fighting certain chemical fires.

In April, police blamed left-wing Japanese extremists for three explosions at nearby Camp Zama. Officers told the Wall Street Journal they believed projectiles had been fired at the camp from two 50-centimeter long steel pipes planted in the ground -- with electrical cables attached -- less than a mile away.