A civilian killed in an explosion ignored warning signs at Fort Bragg, N.C., to scavenge scrap metal from a deadly impact zone, U.S. military authorities said.

Ronnie Blue, and a friend who was not injured, drove onto the impact zone to illegally collect metal from among exploded and unexploded weapons, Tom McCollum, a Fort Bragg spokesman, said.

Just after noon Friday, Blue 47, inadvertently detonated a bomb, Edwards told The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer in a story published Tuesday. Blue's friend, who was not publicly identified, has not been charged.

Fort Bragg has four such impact zones totaling about 35,000 acres, McCollum said. Large signs in Spanish and English warn of undetonated bombs, bullets and rockets McCollum said, adding the impact zones are so dangerous that soldiers don't enter them.

"You are going to have death when somebody is stupid and walks into these areas," McCollum said.