Vancouver Canada - Explosion Rips Through String of Businesses Incluidng Starbucks

February 15, 2008

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The explosion that decimated a string of businesses on West Broadway early yesterday morning was the same type of blast sometimes used to blow up fortified bunkers and tanks, to clear minefields, and which brought down TWA flight 800 in 1996.

“The explosion was an air-fuel explosion,” said Constable Tim Fanning, spokesman for the Vancouver police. Police say the blast inside a Taco Del Mar restaurant at 686 West Broadway at 2:30 a.m. was arson. No one was injured.

“It was quite a blast, there was all sorts of twisted metal that exploded out onto the street and glass that covered the six lanes of Broadway,” said Constable Fanning.

The Starbucks next door to the fast food restaurant was also destroyed. Windows as far away as the London Drugs across the street and at the Scouts Canada building halfway down the block were shattered.

“Fortunately, this happened at 2:30 in the morning … it is miraculous nobody was hurt last night,” Constable Fanning said.

Vancouver police fire investigators and Vancouver fire department investigators determined yesterday afternoon that the fire that caused the explosion was intentionally set, with the use of an accelerant.

An air-fuel explosion is a small blast that disperses a flammable liquid into the air, creating a cloud that is then lit by a second charge, causing a larger explosion. Such explosions are used in war zones to destroy enemy fortifications and neutralize mines, but they can also occur by accident, as in the case of TWA Flight 800 off the U.S. east coast in 1996.

The details such as the type of accelerant used in yesterday’s blast are not yet known.

“More science needs to be done,” said Constable Fanning.

Kevin Hansen, chief operations officer of Taco Del Mar, said the franchises do not use natural gas.

The restaurant is operated by a family and the franchisee is a woman, who Mr. Hansen knows only as Mrs. Nanda.

“She was very shaken up,” he said.

Mr. Hansen said there have been no problems with the franchise.

Constable Fanning said the Taco Del Mar is not known to the police as a venue for criminal activity.

Rumours that a man was seen fleeing the area after the fire was set circulated through the news media and the crowd around the site of the explosion yesterday. While Constable Fanning acknowledged the reports, he would not confirm that such a person is a suspect.

“As soon as we find a motive, that will help lead us to a suspect,” he said.

Police estimate damage to the stores and offices at 686 Granville and nearby will likely be more than $2-million.

David Goguen, hotel manager of the Holiday Inn across the intersection from the Taco Del Mar, said that when he was called in to work at the morning, the scene looked like “a suicide bomb went off.”

One window of the Holiday Inn was shattered in the blast, but the guest sleeping in the room at the time was unharmed.

Source - Globe and Mail

UPDATE: Police are saying the suspect is in custody and this may have been a botched arson job with severe, unintended consequences.

Police were waiting today to interview a badly burned suspect they believe was responsible for an explosion that levelled the Taco Del Mar restaurant on Broadway and destroyed or badly damaged adjoining businesses.

Police did not identify the suspect and did not immediately charge him, but said they expect to lay charges later.

They said the explosion was the unintentional result of an arson attempt gone wrong.

A man was seen fleeing from the scene, shedding charred clothing, shortly after the explosion ripped apart shops in the 686 West Broadway Building at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The suspect is believed to be in hospital with burns to 40 per cent of his body. Police said they were alerted to him just over 24 hours after the blast.

Det. Rodger Shepard appeared at a hastily convened news conference today, called to allay public fears similar attacks might occur or that Wednesday’s incident might be associated with terrorism.

He said those fears were groundless.

“There’s been some nervousness in the public and that’s natural,” said Shepard, adding the explosion was believed to be unintended. “We believe this was an arson, a set fire that went terribly wrong for the person who set it.”

Investigators said they believe the suspect planned to set fire to the Taco Del Mar using an unnamed accelerant, but through ineptitude created the conditions for a deadly fuel-air explosion, which is often more powerful than one created by TNT.

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