Thread: 'Suspicious device' explodes at Ariz. power plant

'Suspicious device' explodes at Ariz. power plant

Sean Holstege, The Arizona Republic 10:06 p.m. EDT June 11, 2014


(Photo: Tory Hargro, USA TODAY)

PHOENIX -- A makeshift bomb exploded at a Nogales, Ariz., power plant Wednesday, rupturing a large fuel tank and prompting the FBI and federal bomb experts to respond.

Local officials were alerted at 9:30 a.m. to a call of "suspicious activity" at the UniSource Energy Services Valencia Plant. An explosion had ruptured a diesel storage tank and caused what Nogales police Lt. Carlos Jimenez described as a relatively small spill that was confined to the immediate area.

Officials closed off the power plant and an adjacent car dealership. The the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Arizona Department of Public Services were called.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday agents were still processing the scene.

"The reason for the high-scale response is the plant is an electrical substation and critical to the area," Jimenez said, explaining that as many as 30,000 customers in the area -- the entire town of Nogales and its environs -- depends on the plant for power.

"The whole city of Nogales could have been compromised," he added.
There were no reports of injuries and authorities said they knew of no suspects or witnesses.

They described the explosive as "a suspicious device," but would not elaborate. The fuel did not ignite, Jimenez said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ant-/10354643/

FBI investigating an explosion at a power plant in southern Arizona caused by a makeshift bomb

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 11, 2014 - 9:21 pm EDT

NOGALES, Arizona — The FBI is investigating an explosion at a power plant in southern Arizona caused by a makeshift bomb.

Nogales police say the explosion Wednesday morning at the UniSource Energy Services Valencia Plant ruptured a diesel storage tank and caused a small spill, but the fuel didn't ignite.

Authorities say there were no reported injuries and they're still looking for suspects and any witnesses to the explosion which occurred around 9:30 a.m.

The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the scene along with the Arizona authorities.

Nogales police spokesman Lt. Carlos Jimenez told The Arizona Republic that the plant is an electrical substation and has about 30,000 customers in the area.

Jimenez says the entire border town of Nogales depends on the plant for power.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...lant-Explosion

1. Sabotage at Nogales station puts focus on threats to grid
   
   www.azcentral.com/.../arizona/...station.../1040805...
   The Arizona Republic
   2 days ago - FBI and ATF agents responded to a Nogales power plant after a makeshift bomb ... next to a 50,000-gallon diesel tank at an Arizona power station Wednesday has any ... Contrary to initial accounts, the bomb did not explode...

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