Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire rapidly, said Montgomery County Fire Battalion Chief Dan Ogren. (Courtesy Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service)
Posted on 09/27/2017 4:58:08 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire rapidly, said Montgomery County Fire Battalion Chief Dan Ogren. (Courtesy Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service)
“The conditions in the basement became more and more unusual as the investigation went on,” Montgomery County Fire Chief Dan Ogren said Tuesday in describing the site of the house fire on Danbury Road.
Firefighters responded at around 4:30 p.m. Sept. 10 to the house in the Maplewood neighborhood of Bethesda. They found smoke coming out of all three levels of the house.
Initially, investigators said hoarding conditions created a challenge in fighting the fire. Ogren said they discovered what he has heard described as tunnels under the home the following day.
Ogren could not go into more detail. Paul Starks, a spokesman for the Montgomery County police, called it an “excavation underneath the home.”
The tunnels or excavation did not impede the fight against the fire, but Ogren said an ignited gas line certainly did. Crews had to dig up the front yard of the home to access the line and stop the gas flow.
In addition to the tunnels, Ogren said, investigators found chemicals that could be misused, and other “equipment,” in the basement.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
Only congressional IT guys make that kind of money.... for a 31-year old occupant.
Their Refusal to identify anyone makes me suspicious.
Mah bunker:
When we were looking at houses to buy, I noticed in a far corner of the back yard a small deck-like structure, apropos of nothing, just hanging out by itself.
While the Real Estate lady and my wife moved on, I zoned in on this structure. Upon inspection it had handles- that piqued my interest, so I lifted it and saw pure awesomeness.
I never mentioned to anyone until we closed on escrow. I was afraid it was a nuisance or safety issue and it would gum up the sale.
After pumping it out, then mucking out all the mud and spending time down there, I can attest that it is indeed a safety issue.
It is made entirely of thick steel plate, both welded and riveted, and some of the walls are bulging. It has foyer, because radioactivity was believed to travel in a straight line and not go around corners.
There are gussets at the junction of the walls and ceiling to strengthen the ceiling, and whoo boy, by todays standards they are very small and anemic.
there are hooks welded into the walls for hammocks, one on top of another. Looks to be made for a family of 3.
A previous owner wired it for electricity. There’s an outlet and a light socket installed. Someone else removed the wiring, which is a good thing seeing as how it filled up with water 100% during the last hurricane.
I had to run a pump nonstop for 3 days to empty it.
There is evidence that at one time it was somehow hooked up to the sewer system; there is a large plate welded right next to where my sewer line runs to the main.
I estimate it was installed in 1964. I dated the incandescent lightbulb in it to 1965.
I would love to have a historian take a look.
Mu bunker:
When we were looking at houses to buy, I noticed in a far corner of the back yard a small deck-like structure, apropos of nothing, just hanging out by itself.
While the Real Estate lady and my wife moved on, I zoned in on this structure. Upon inspection it had handles- that piqued my interest, so I lifted it and saw pure awesomeness.
I never mentioned to anyone until we closed on escrow. I was afraid it was a nuisance or safety issue and it would gum up the sale.
After pumping it out, then mucking out all the mud and spending time down there, I can attest that it is indeed a safety issue.
It is made entirely of thick steel plate, and some of the walls a bulging. It has foyer, because radioactivity was believed to travel in a straight line and not go around corners.
There are gussets at the junction of the walls and ceiling to strengthen the ceiling, and whoo boy, by todays standards they are very small and anemic.
there are hooks welded into the walls for hammocks. Looks to made for a family of 3.
A previous owner wired it for electricity. There’s an outlet and a light socket installed. Someone else removed the wiring, which is a good thing seeing as how it filled up with water 100% during the last hurricane.
I had to run a pump nonstop for 3 days to empty it.
No one seems to have interviewed the 31-year old fellow.
DC’s journalists seem to have an amazing lack of curiosity about basic report background information.
I am sure there is a 4chan-er or a realtor who could ID the owners of the house.
My opening bet is that dwelling is a rental.
In the death investigation, the police are waiting on information from the medical examiner to identify the man who died, Starks said. Meanwhile, Ogren said the wiring and some other items are being tested at the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lab to aid in determining the cause and ignition source.
I grew up with some friends who had the shelters in their back yards. They weren’t very old in the early ‘60s.....
How’d the guy get rid of the dirt?
Every job I do around our house that involves digging leaves me with a pile of dirt...whether small, big or huge...depending on the job. Then I have to figure out what to do with it. I will admit...some has gone out in the rollout trash container on trash days, a few shovel fulls at a time.
And, this guy was digging tunnels?
More on the story...reporting by Chris Gordon.... IIRC, the reporter lives nearby.
Mighty strange....
Oh, it’s always been really nice — and also full of bat-shit crazy people
#23 It was not a fall out shelter... : )
A septic tank.
“...mucking out all the mud and spending time down there”
A previous owner repurposed the bunker to serve as a cistern. A French drain and my pond are plumbed to overflow into it.
Thus, it fills up with water over the course of a year (or in the case of a hurricane, over the course of a day).
I got 40 inches where I live!
Askia Khafra, 21, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was found dead after a house fire in Bethesda, Maryland, on September 10
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4926938/Man-dead-house-fire-upscale-DC-suburb.html
I suspect bomb factory. These 2 were going to kill a lot of people.
Sounds like they were up to no good . It will be interesting to see if anything developes from this.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4926938/Man-dead-house-fire-upscale-DC-suburb.htmlWonder about the "angel" investor's putting money into this startup.... Is there a story?http://wtop.com/maryland/2017/09/tunnels-wiring-chemicals-found-at-bethesda-house-fire/
https://angel.co/akhafra-gmail-com
Actually there are quite a few private fallout shelters in Bethesda and Potomac.
One WII navy vet had a sizeable lot for that area with the top of his concrete shelter rising about 2 feet above grade, which he had disguised by building a gazebo on top. Looked perfectly normal in that setting. He told me that at the time he built it there were several more in his immediate area. Sign of the times.
With a name like that, more likely Moslems.
And I don’t fling that accusation around glibly like most of FR.
Any more tidbits on this story?
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