Breaking - FOX News Reports Mail Box Explosion in Spokane Washington

FOX News Channel - Breaking News | May 9, 2002 | FOX News Channel - Breaking News

[MeekOneGOP]

That is per FOX News Channel with Sheriff on the line!

[Mo1]

Intent not intended to hurt anyone, just chemical bomb to destroy the mailbox.

What happen to the old days when kids use baseball bats to destroy a malibox???

[connectthedots]

I'm not going to say that Spokane is a boring town, but many years ago a C&W performerer wrote a song titled "I spent a week last night in a Motel in Spokane". We report, you decide.

On the plus side, Spokane has some of the very best municipal golf courses in the country, if not the best.

[PrivateIdaho]

LOL... I just called my brother-in-law in Colbert to warn him about checking the mail... he had just gotten out of the shower and hadn't heard about it yet.

[July 4th]

[KC Burke]

Thanks for the link now my next question is .. what the hell is wrong with people these days??

Rousseau published.

[KSCITYBOY]

Acid

[cajungirl]

LIke are we supposed to sneak up on our mailboxes. How does one exercise caution in approaching mailbox? I predict a group of hysterical women will now be calling the cops cause their mailboxes look peculiar. What would make us suspicious while we slink up to the box in camaflage?

[MeekOneGOP]

Crap. My sister and brother-in-law live there.

Kids doing malicious damage. See #59.........

[wimpycat]

I call the cops whenever my mailbox looks at me funny. I don't take no crap from my mailbox.

[CJ Wolf]

you mean, back when you could buy an M80...

[Dallas]

By Associated Press

May 9, 2002, 3:46 PM EDT

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Three small bombs have exploded in mailboxes in northern parts of Spokane County, the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday.

There have been no injuries and postal inspectors believe the bombs are pranks, said Dennis Larson, a postal inspector in Spokane.

"What they are bombs created by placing caustic substances in aluminum foil and other liquids in plastic soft drink bottles," Larson said.

"Chemical reactions cause the bottle to rupture," he said.

The three bombs reported so far have all been along one mail route in northern Spokane County.

The incidents do not seem as serious as the string of pipe bombings earlier this week in the Midwest, Larson said.

One of the bombs was discovered on Monday and two more Wednesday, he said.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

[eabinga]

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Copycat at work, I think......

Calling the FBI. Cleanup needed on aisle 7.

[Geezerette]

Remember a few weeks ago, Arab terrorists threatened to go into our Heartland and do damage? That's the first thing I thought of that first day when pipe bombs were found in Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, etc.

Radio top o' the news just reported facts that are on this thread. FreeRepublic always gets a headstart on breaking news!!!

g

[Dog Gone]

What happen to the old days when kids use baseball bats to destroy a malibox???

They still do. It happened to me about three weeks ago.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

....in the Seattle area..

This is one of the main camps of the Far Left Nutcase Brigade.

[Mo1]

Sorry about your mailbox ...

Maybe it was a bad joke .. Sorry

[archy]

From the New Mexico Emergency Preparedness Web

Term: Caustic bombs
Catagory: Conventional Explosives
Definition: Alkali based devices mixed with water and luminum foil. The most common ingredient is sodium hydroxide, a corrosive in both liquid and solid forms that can immerdiately cause serious burns to skin on contact. Comercial sources of sodium.

AKA *Macgyver bombs.* Frequently use a 2-liter pop bottle as the pressure vessel, just the right size to slip inside a large rural mailbox.

Police find ‘MacGyver’ bombs

By JOSEPH SWAVY

State News Staff Writer

Bottle bombs, homemade explosive devices, have been found detonated in Holden Hall four times since Nov. 5. No one has been injured in the blasts, but potential for major injury or death exists, authorities warn.

The devices are commonly called “MacGyver bombs,” because the Richard Dean Anderson character constructed one on the show, police said.

The bombs are made by mixing household chemicals with tin foil in a sealed bottle.

“The idea is to have a chemical mix that builds up pressure until it explodes,” said East Lansing police Capt. Stephen Chubb. “We have had them over the years, but the last one was probably a year ago.”

The bottles do not use fuses, so there is no way to know when they will burst. It depends on the chemical reaction within the bottle, Chubb said.

“They self-detonate, and that is one of the problems, because they are so unpredictable,” he said. “It is different with every time, depending on the quantities, mixtures and temperatures.”

When the device explodes, the bottle is shattered and the chemicals are thrown outward. The bottle pieces can cause injuries and the chemicals can cause burns, Chubb said.

“The chemicals are usually in a plastic bottle, but the last few have been in glass bottles,” said MSU police Lt. Dale Metts. “That can be deadly.”

Chubb said the only injuries he can recall involve an East Lansing high school student who was close to a bottle bomb when it exploded. The student sustained chemical burns after he was splashed with residue, but he did not require immediate medical attention.

East Lansing Fire Marshall Gary Waterman said the city hasn’t had a major problem with the devices.

“It seems like they were more prevalent a year ago,” he said. “Typically, the problem is kids putting them in mail boxes in rural areas.”

People who make or detonate the devices can be charged with a variety of crimes, depending on the magnitude of the explosion and the size of the device, Chubb said.

One possible charge, manufacturing with unlawful intent, is a felony punishable with no less than two years and no more than five years in prison. Offenders also could be charged with disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, or felonious assault, Chubb said.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Now THAT's A SHOWER!