Car Bomb Rocks Vancouver, WA Apartment Complex

[Vic]

http://www.katu.com/stories/75033.html

February 17, 2005

Car Explosion Rocks Apartment Complex

By Anna Song
and KATU Web Staff

Vancouver, Wash. - Investigators are trying to figure out what may have caused an early morning explosion outside a Vancouver apartment complex.

The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. at the Oakbrook Apartments located at N.E. 105th and Oak Brook Circle.

"I woke up to a loud explosion, so I opened the door and there was a car on fire," Loueva Smith, a resident at the apartment complex, told KATU News. "I was totally surprised. I didn't know how that could happen."

As for how powerful the explosion was, Smith said it was enough to scare her awake.

"The explosion shook our whole apartment and all of our cupboards," she said. "Everything came out and crashed on the floor. The doorframe blew off. There was debris everywhere and glass everywhere."

Apartment resident Lindsey Reinig told KATU News she was returning home just after the explosion happened.

"I was driving down and saw a bunch of cars and fire trucks," she said. "I pulled in and I was shocked to see that they were here in these apartments because it's a good neighborhood. It was a surprise."

Some of the residents of the complex were evacuated following the explosion, but were later let back inside.

Arson investigators remained on the scene in the early morning hours looking for clues.

A single mother who had recently moved to the area owns the car.

She told police the vehicle had nothing mechanically wrong with it and that she has no enemies who might want to retaliate against her.

Additional Story (registration required, see bugmenot):
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_021705_news_car_explodes.b84e19c9.html

Vancouver car explosion sends windshield flying

01:20 PM PST on Thursday, February 17, 2005

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A car explosion outside a north Vancouver apartment complex early Thursday morning sent the vehicle's windshield flying over the building's roof, officials said.

The middle car exploded early Thursday morning at a north Vancouver apartment complex parking lot.

A Hyundai sedan in the parking lot at Oakbrook Apartments exploded about 2:30 a.m., according to firefighters. No injuries were reported and no one was in any of the nearby cars at the time.

Authorities evacuated the apartment and firefighters quickly knocked down the flames. The Hyundai was fully engulfed and is a total loss, said Kim Kapp, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Police Department.

The explosion also damaged the vehicles on each side of the sedan and caused minor damage to the nearby apartment, Kapp said.

The sedan's windows shattered as the explosion ripped the vehicle apart. Shreds of glass littered the ground hundreds of feet from the car. Meanwhile, the sturdy windshield that catapulted into the air landed on a lawn behind the apartment building.

Police and the bomb squad responded to the incident after numerous apartment residents and neighbors called 9-1-1 to report loud explosions.

? 'Boom!' I mean the loudest 'boom' you?ve ever heard in your entire life. Shook my floors, shook my walls," said neighbor Shauna Goodwin, who was awakened by the noise.

Goodwin said she initially thought the explosion had occurred in the apartment, but then she saw black smoke coming from the parking lot.

Federal investigators are working to pinpoint how and why the car exploded. The magnitude of the explosion made it unlikely that a pipe bomb was the cause, said John McMahon with The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

ATF is investigating the incident. Detectives said they are looking into arson as a possible cause.

One witness told KGW she spotted a new model, dark colored SUV speed out of the parking lot around the time of the explosion. Police would not say whether they are looking for a vehicle matching that description.

The woman who owns the car told police she has no enemies. Her name has not been released.

The apartment is located at NE Oak Brook Circle near Interstate 205 and the Royal Oaks Country Club.

Vancouver, WA is the 4th largest city in Washington state, located just across the Columbia River from Portland, OR - Map

 

[notfred]

Since when is Vancouver in Washington?

 

[NL5]

That's about 1/8 of a mile from my place......

...my rental is across the street from that apt complex

 

[bluewall21]

Originally posted by: notfred
Since when is Vancouver in Washington?

Since always.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: notfred
Since when is Vancouver in Washington?

I knew this would come up. That's why I included the Yahoo map link. The answer is that Vancouver, WA is even older than Vancouver, BC, having been established in 1824 by the Hudsons Bay Co. The city has a population of roughly 150,000 with another 200,000 in surrounding Clark county, WA. It's also Portland's largest suburb city, part of the Portland-Vancouver MSA which has a population of roughly 2.2 million last census.

I also grew up there.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: NL5
That's about 1/8 of a mile from my place......

...my rental is across the street from that apt complex

Yeah, I have good friends who live near there in the Burton area.

 

[Colt45]

The Hyundai was fully engulfed and is a total loss, said Kim Kapp, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Police Department.

Ah, there's the problem.

 

[SSP]

lol, I read "Car bomb rocks Vancouver" and I hit the power button on my tv remote & to the local news network. Then I finished reading the title..

You jerk

 

[rudeguy]

another guy trying to make a smiley face on the map with bombs?

 

[Colt45]

Yeah, when you're taking about vancouver, WA, you must explicitly note the WA part. and bold it. lol

 

[DaveSimmons]

Doesn't sound like a "car bomb" as the term is normally used, a car filled with large quantities of explosive material.

Better (less sensationalistic) reporting would be something like "car explosion" or "gas tank ignited", simple vandalism with no connection to terrorism.

But bloodsucking newsghouls live by their rartings, so "responsible reporters" are about as plentiful as "ethical lawyers."

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Doesn't sound like a "car bomb" as the term is normally used, a car filled with large quantities of explosive material.

Better (less sensationalistic) reporting would be something like "car explosion" or "gas tank ignited", simple vandalism with no connection to terrorism.

But bloodsucking newsghouls live by their rartings, so "responsible reporters" are about as plentiful as "ethical lawyers."

Read the 2nd linked article, where the ATF have already ruled out gas tank or pipe bomb due to the large size of the explosion.


And damnit, you can't bold titles!

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: NL5
That's about 1/8 of a mile from my place......

...my rental is across the street from that apt complex

I was around Haagen Park last night selling some web hosting to small businesses.

How far is that from this complex?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Doesn't sound like a "car bomb" as the term is normally used, a car filled with large quantities of explosive material.

Better (less sensationalistic) reporting would be something like "car explosion" or "gas tank ignited", simple vandalism with no connection to terrorism.

Read the 2nd linked article, where the ATF have already ruled out gas tank or pipe bomb due to the large size of the explosion.

I read that the other way around -- the _small_ magnitude.

The fact that cars next to it were only damaged means it can't have been filled with much explosives, if any. If not a pipe bomb, it might have been something simple like emptying a gas can in, over, and/or around the car.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
I was around Haagen Park last night selling some web hosting to small businesses.

How far is that from this complex?

About 4-5 miles NW from the park.

 

[GrassR00t]

Hmmm.. I used to live right down the street from there. The coov seems to be getting crazy!

 

[RossMAN]

I didn't read both articles in their entirety.

Was this gang related?

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I read that the other way around -- the _small_ magnitude.

The fact that cars next to it were only damaged means it can't have been filled with much explosives, if any. If not a pipe bomb, it might have been something simple like emptying a gas can in, over, and/or around the car.

Hmm... well I've seen a multiple car fire (watched an apt complex's wooden carport burn down ~10 cars many years ago) and gas tanks don't really explode in real life like they do in the movies. Mostly just burn very quickly.
I would say there was almost certainly an explosive involved.

Originally posted by: GrassR00t
Hmmm.. I used to live right down the street from there. The coov seems to be getting crazy!

Yeah, it's really gone downhill IMO. Too much population growth with too little planning.

 

[RossMAN]

Meth heads are fleeing OR to WA since it's easier to buy OTC drugs there.

Good riddance!