Police respond to second bomb

Staff

Published Tuesday, March 28, 2006

By Joseph Marks, staff writer

Albert Lea police responded Monday night to the second case of a chemical explosive detonated inside city limits in less than a week.

The explosive, a four-inch stick of sodium metal that reacts violently with water, was found by police at 515 Triangle Drive at about 8:30 p.m. Monday, said Lt. Phil Bartusek. He said officers were called to the site after reports of damage to a fence.

A cream-colored stick was reportedly sizzling in a snow bank when authorities arrived. It had melted a hole in the snow 15 inches in diameter. When the stick was moved to fresher snow it reportedly reacted to the water, bursting into an orange flame, followed by a large orange explosion that shot pieces of burning debris about 30 feet in all directions, Bartusek said.

Police contacted the Bloomington bomb squad, which told them the stick was sodium metal, an extremely volatile substance available on the Internet and in catalogs.

Triangle Drive is accessed via Court Street and Wedgemore Drive.

Police have no suspects at this time.

“This is a very dangerous situation,” said Bartusek. “If citizens should see any material like this, they should notify the police immediately and evacuate at least 300 feet from the device.

Police are investigating whether this explosive and an improvised explosive device detonated Friday in a construction site's portable toilet behind Hy-Vee are related to several explosions in the county in recent months in mailboxes and other areas, according to Police Chief Dwaine Winkels.

(Contact Joseph Marks at joseph.marks@albertleatribune.com or at 379-3435.)

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