RALEIGH - Residents near the Raleigh scrap metal plant are being allowed back into their homes tonight after military personnel from Fort Bragg spent the day exploding ammunition found at the facility.

Those who were left under either mandatory or voluntary evacuation will be allowed back at 8 p.m. but will need to leave again by no later than 8 a.m. Thursday morning, said Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue in a news release

"Ordinance disposal operations will resume tomorrow morning," the release said.

By about 12:30 p.m., at least five more blasts had sounded from Raleigh Metals Processors at 2310 Garner Road, in a largely industrial area of South Raleigh. Onlookers could see black smoke and flying debris with each blast.

Officials have not said how much ammunition remains to be destroyed or how long the process will continue.

Greg Brown, the CEO of Raleigh Metals, told reporters this morning that some individuals on Thursday brought the ammunition to the plant, which buys scrap metal for recycling. The company is not supposed to accept live ammunition, he said, though it does buy spent shells.

The company regularly compacts scrap metal into bales, which are then sold to steel companies and others, Brown said. On Tuesday, some of the ammunition exploded as workers began feeding it into a baler.

Two workers were injured. One of them, Adrian Bravo, 27, was in good condition today at WakeMed Raleigh campus. The other, Isai Bravo Santiago, 33, complained of ringing in his ears, was also taken to WakeMed and subsequently was discharged.

Officials have not yet said what kind of munitions were involved. Brown said Raleigh Metals accepts scrap metal from the military, but the ammunition in question was not brought to the company by military officials.

Brown said the munitions experts from Fort Bragg did not think it was appropriate to move the ammunition off the site for detonation. "Safety is No. 1, and I agree to that," he said. "Safety is No. 1 in my company."

While the detonations continue, a section of Garner Road near the plant has been closed to through traffic. The stretch runs from Rush Street on the south to Newcombe Road on the north. Motorists who normally travel that section of Garner Road should use other routes, police said.

Authorities were working this morning out of the Garner Road YMCA, across the street from Raleigh Metals Processors. In the meantime, the YMCA has been closed to the public, said its CEO, Larry Jones. Windows at the YMCA were taped to guard against damage from detonations, which reverberated loudly through the surrounding community.

Residents at a nearby apartment complex were evacuated Tuesday night. Six residents spent the night at Garner United Methodist Church, where the Triangle area chapter of the American Red Cross opened a shelter.

However, some residents of Park Creek Apartments, less than a block from the metals plant, said they were caught off guard by the explosions over night. "It was boom, shaking the whole house!" said Jakwon Hawkins, 18, as he emerged from his apartment this morning with his father, Richard Massenburg.

"You knew something was happening, but they didn't let us know it was going to be continuous bombshells like that," Massenburg said. "Our whole building shook."

Raleigh police, along with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were investigating.