Sarah, we have answered the cause of the mysterious explosion last night. From the cops:

Last night at approximately 8:05 p.m., 911 calls were received about a loud explosion being heard near the Sellwood Bridge. Portland Police Officers and Fire Bureau personnel responded to the area but were unable to locate what caused the explosion. This morning, investigators from the Portland Police Bureau’s Explosives Disposal Unit, (EDU), went to the area after reviewing information from citizen’s calls to 911 and from local blogging information.

Investigators did locate evidence of a large pipe bomb this morning in Powers Marine Park that appears to have been detonated. Investigators believe that the sound was amplified in an easterly direction because of its placement near the bank and river and due to the low cloud cover. Police do not have any evidence at this time that anyone was injured during the explosion or that any property damage occur ed.

This is an ongoing investigation and EDU officers will continue to investigate this incident.

Matt Davis was news editor of the Mercury from 2009 to May 2010.

11 replies on “#pdxboom: It Was A Pipebomb”

  1. Damn. This will certainly put tonight’s protest in the South Park Blocks on high alert with the PPB.

    SO happy it’s happening right in my front yard. /sarcasm

  3. LOL! What floor do you live on? I’m on the 11th with a great view. Or we could just use the rooftop access. But it might be rainy. 😉

    Also whadya wanna bet our fountain gets “sudsy” tonight?

  4. Not sure I buy it. It rattled the windows on my house on mt. tabor, several miles away. It was also after dark, and no one saw a flash, despite the fact that it was early enough in the evening that most people were awake and there were probably plenty of people out and about in the area. I’m not saying there wasn’t a pipe bomb down there, but I wouldn’t be so quick to connect the two.

    Anyone out there with any insight on stuff like this:

    http://www.terraresearch.net/articles/eart…

    ?

  5. I take my dog to that park to let her swim. Its pretty underused, but I imagine that most folks prefer the Sellwood side river access. The park, I think, is sandwiched between Highway 43 and railroad tracks and the river and pretty much consists of a gravel path with a little bit of grass surrounding it which runs from the Sellwood Bridge for less than a mile. There’s a fairly steep drop from Highway 43 to the river and there’s plenty of underbrush. I imagine if there was a pipebomb set off on the gravel or grassy area, it wouldn’t be visible from either Highway 43 or the few houseboats or golf course accross the river.

  7. A meteorite has landed, the Sharks are running wild in town, you kids are wandering around, and, I’m hungry…I hate my job!

  10. I’m sorry SE Portland I had Baja Fresh and My wife made me go outside to fart. I didn’t mean to make such a commotion! #kemblepdx

  11. Call me a skeptic/conspiracy theorist if one wishes, but has anyone asked the valid question of if there’s any evidence the pipe bomb shrapnel is connected to the incident Sunday night? Has there been a determination that this isn’t fake evidence planted so everyone thinks it’s the cause? Are there any other indications in the surrounding area to support the blast being from this pipe bomb?

    I heard it myself, thought it was a bit strange there was a boom but the lights didn’t flicker. Some reports stated the sound appeared to come from overhead.

    The first thing that came to mind Sunday night was the line from the movie Broken Arrow: “what happened in Utah today was an earthquake.” The line before then was about lying through one’s teeth with all sincerity.

    Uh… would this be a good place to say “Elect Jason Barbour?!” 😀

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