[meteorite-list] Cause of Blast in California Remains A Mystery

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 08:53:02 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200703061653.IAA02869_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_5362768

Cause of blast remains mystery
By Sandy Mazza
Whittier Daily (California)
March 6, 2007

WHITTIER - Was it a bomb? An exploded gas tank? A blown transformer?

Neighbors in the 6000 block of Newlin Avenue in Uptown Whittier felt
their homes and cars tremble and heard a deafening boom this weekend
that sent them out into the street to investigate.

They wondered aloud if it was kids playing with firecrackers, or
something more sinister. Could it have been secret military operations?
Aliens?

The source remained a mystery Monday, according to police and fire
officials.

Neighbors said they heard the blast at about 8:45 p.m. Saturday but
found no damage.

"The first thing that came to my mind was dynamite," said John Rivera,
54, who lives about four blocks from Newlin. "Somebody thought it was a
gas line or a meth lab."

He wondered, too, if it was the sonic boom of military aircraft or some
other unusual phenomena.

Whittier Police Department officers searched the area with a helicopter
but found nothing, said police spokeswoman Diana Salazar.

"There was an explosion, but it is undetermined what it was," she said.
"There was no sign of damage to the area. In the alley, they found some
liter bottles with tape around. It may have been juveniles making noise

The force of the explosion confounded residents within a four-block
radius. They said they had never heard and felt something so powerful
from fireworks.

Residents flicked on their house lights and poured into the streets. Car
alarms went off.

Raul Reyes, 46, saw the flash of the explosion near his home on Newlin
Avenue.

"I seen a big old flash behind me," said Reyes, who was driving his
pickup truck into his driveway when it happened. "I thought someone
threw a bomb. It shook my truck."

He saw teenagers kicking something out of the street where the explosion
occurred and then run away.

"I think it was teenagers playing with fireworks," he said.
Received on Tue 06 Mar 2007 11:53:02 AM PST