A fast-moving wildfire chewing through the piney woods of south Arkansas swelled to nearly 3,000 acres overnight, licking at the edges of an industrial park that manufactures missiles and stores live ordnance for some of the nation's biggest defense contractors.

The "Bunker Fire" broke out Monday afternoon in Calhoun County near East Camden and had scorched roughly 2,835 acres by 11 p.m. Tuesday, according to state emergency officials — up from 2,300 acres just hours earlier. The blaze sits inside the sprawling Highland Industrial Park, home to Lockheed Martin's missile and fire-control plant, Raytheon Missile Systems, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, and rows of earthen bunkers used to store military munitions.

Fire crews say the flames reached the grassy berms covering some of those bunkers but did not breach them or set off any explosives. Still, the proximity was enough to trigger a full-scale state response. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders activated the Arkansas National Guard, sending two Black Hawk helicopters fitted with "Bambi bucket" water tanks to hammer the fire line from above, along with bulldozers and a fire plow trucked in from Camp Robinson.

Hundreds evacuated, no injuries reported

By Tuesday morning, crews had already dumped nearly 17,000 gallons of water on the blaze, and officials reported the fire was roughly 35% contained. The Calhoun County Sheriff's Office ordered evacuations Monday night for residents north of Highway 278, and students at nearby Southern Arkansas University Tech were bused to a high school gymnasium before being allowed back to their dorms later that night. Several hundred people in all were pushed from their homes as smoke rolled over Camden.

"The fire continues to be very close, but so far we have not sustained any damage," Highland Industrial Park CEO Clark Davis told reporters, adding that Lockheed Martin's operations on site remained up and running.

No injuries or structure losses had been confirmed as of the latest update, and a stretch of Arkansas Highway 274 running through the heart of the industrial park remained closed at midnight. The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management activated its State Emergency Operations Center to coordinate the response, a step usually reserved for the state's most serious disasters.

Investigators have not yet said what sparked the fire. Dry conditions and gusty winds have fueled several grass fires across south Arkansas in recent weeks, and forestry officials warned the blaze could keep growing before crews gain full control. For now, the bunkers have held — but with flames still working the tree line around a facility built to store some of the military's most sensitive hardware, nobody in Camden is exhaling just yet.