Friday, April 10, 2015

THE LATE-NIGHT EXPLOSION THAT SHOOK HOUSES AND WOKE RESIDENTS IN WEST SIOUX FALLS WAS THE RESULT OF A POP BOTTLE BOMB.






APRIL 10, 2015

SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA

The late-night explosion that shook houses and woke residents in west Sioux Falls was the result of a pop bottle bomb.

Police found a burn area at the southwest corner of Ninth Street and Valley View Road at 7 a.m. Friday. The explosion was heard at 12:27 a.m.

The Sioux Falls Police Department received 17 calls about the explosion, and numerous officers throughout the city also reported hearing the sound, according to Sgt. Kevin Henkel. A majority of the calls came from the area of Ninth and Valley View, which is between Marion Road and Sertoma Road.

Sam Clemens, police spokesman, said an officer found remnants of a 2-liter pop bottle near the intersection and burn site. A pop bottle bomb is essentially some type of bottle full of different ingredients that cause the bottle to rupture.

Depending on the type of ingredients used, Clemens said it is possible to make a pop bottle bomb with an explosion large enough to shake houses in the surrounding area.

"Oh, we felt it," said Joy Hanscom who lives in her home at 6305 W. Ninth St. with her husband, Jim. The Hanscoms were in bed when the explosion woke them.

"I thought someone hit a train at first," Jim said. "It was so close and that was the only thing I thought could have made an impact like that."

The couple also thought it could have been from the quarry near the fairgrounds or a tanker truck from a business up the road. But none of those options made sense because the explosion was close enough to make their home shake.

The Hanscoms have lived in their home near Ninth and Valley View for 50 years.
"We've never had anything like this happen before," Joy said. "Especially not so close."

Clemens said there is no history of people injuring themselves from pop bottle bombs, but police typically see smaller versions of the one used Friday morning.
"There is a potential chance of injury," he said. "But there haven't been any reports."

Tips have come into police, but they are still investigating and working to figure out who might have caused it.

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BOMB MADE FROM TINFOIL AND DRAIN CLEANER (DRANO) IN A GATORADE BOTTLE INJURES LYNCHBURG COLLEGE GROUNDSKEEPER 

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

LYNCHBURG COLLEGE, VIRGINIA

A bomb made from tinfoil and drain cleaner in a Gatorade bottle caused minor injuries to a Lynchburg College groundskeeper Monday morning.

According to Bob Driskill, director of campus safety and security, the groundskeeper found the bottle during his morning cleanup duties in the 300 block of College Street and picked it up. As he was walking back to his truck, it exploded, Driskill said in an interview.

The college has determined the device was a “works” bomb.  Drano is formulated as a combination of liquid lye and sodium hypochlorite.

“The chemical reaction between the Drain-o and the Tin Foil makes a volatile buildup of gases and subsequently detonates the bottle with a great amount of force,” wrote Driskill in an email to the campus community.  The gas that is generated is actually hydrogen gas, H2. “Once the detonation occurs, the chemical substance that is in the bottle is actually boiling liquid.

Sodium Hydroxide (which is the active ingredient in many drain cleaners, including Drano (Drano MSDS Here)) does indeed react fairly violently with aluminium to produce Hydrogen gas.

2 Al + 2 NaOH + 2 H2O → 2 NaAl(OH)4 + 3 H2

The Sodium Hydroxide breaks down the passivation layer that naturally forms on the surface of aluminium due to it's reaction with atmospheric oxygen. It's my understanding that: 

The Sodium Hydroxide dissolves the passivation, which allows the NaOH and H2O to come in direct contact with the Aluminium metal. 

The Aluminium reacts to give NaAl(OH)4, and hydrogen as a gas ultimately ending up with a lot of heat, hydrogen gas, and various aluminium hydroxide species.

“The amount of force that is generated at the time of the explosion is enough to sever fingers and also delivers 2nd and 3rd degree chemical burns to the victim. The chemicals can possibly cause blindness and the toxic fumes can be harmful.”

Driskill said the chemical splashed the employee on his eyes, skin and clothing. After flushing out his eye at the campus health center and changing clothing, he returned to work later in the day, Driskill said.

The following advice was given to the college community in the email:

“If you find a soda bottle or any other bottles, look at it carefully. If it shows signs of swelling, or melting in any way, DO NOT TOUCH IT! Call Campus Security 434.544.5555 and let us respond in concert with the Lynchburg Fire Department.”

Lynchburg College employees investigated the front yard of a college-owned student house where the bottle was found and discovered debris of similar, previously exploded bomb. The house is not a sorority or fraternity, he said.
Driskill said “works” bombs typically are set up to detonate in a short period of time, so it’s likely the one the groundskeeper picked up was defective in some way.

He said about a year ago, there was an explosion on campus officials suspect was a similar “works” or “Drano” bomb dropped by a moving vehicle passing through campus. No one was injured and they weren’t able to obtain debris, he said. That’s the only similar incident he’s aware of at the college.

Lynchburg Fire Marshal Thomas Goode said it’s a Class 5 felony, and the Fire Marshal’s Office is assisting Lynchburg College with the investigation.

“People walk through there all the time,” Goode said of the area where the bomb went off. “There’s no cameras in the vicinity.”

It appears to be an isolated incident, so far.

“It’s not like a serial bottle bomber at this time,” Goode said.

Anyone with information regarding the bomb is asked to all the Fire Marshal’s Office at (434) 455-6349.