Postal Service Warns Maine Residents of Liquid Explosives In Mailboxes
June 20, 2008 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
The United States Postal Service is warning residents of Maine about liquid explosives placed in curbside mailboxes.
Residents received a postcard informing them that postal carriers do not place soda bottles or other plastic containers containing liquid into mailboxes. They are warned to use extreme caution if anything suspicious is found in their mailboxes.
According to the postcard isolated incidents of vandalism involving the mixing of common household materials together have occurred throughout the country, including in Maine. The result can be a powerful explosion, with the potential for serious injury.
Tom Rizzo, public affairs officer for USPS in Maine, said there have been a small number of incidents in Maine towns and the post office is simply being proactive.
“There’s been no pattern,” Rizzo said. “We attribute it to teenage pranks or personal conflicts between neighbors. We have put these (postcards) out statewide so if you get one it doesn’t necessarily mean it happened in your community. We’re just doing the best we can to get our customers’ attention and alert them that there is a small threat, in the hopes that it will prevent an injury from happening.”
Rizzo said the postal service is aware of incidents across the country.
