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Police are investigating two separate explosions that occurred within less than 48 hours in Northeast Portland, including the explosion of a book exchange box and a mailbox, the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement Monday.
The first incident occurred on Saturday night, around 11:30 pm, police say, near Northeast 87th Avenue and Fremont Street. Police say they responded to the sound of a loud explosion, and that they located a destroyed book exchange box, possibly referring to what is known colloquially as a “little free library.”
“There was debris of wood and books spread around the scene,” PPB said Monday. “Flying debris appeared to have caused minor damage to at least two residences, but nobody was injured.”
The next incident occurred a bit more than 24 hours later, around 1 am on July 12 near East Burnside Street and 148th Avenue, police say—about 5 miles southeast of the first explosion. Police say they responded to the sound of a loud explosion, and that they located a “brick mailbox enclosure and a mailbox” that had been destroyed.
“Debris landed up to 100 feet away,” PPB said. “Nobody was injured.”
The explosions occurred days after the National Weather Service deemed the entire state of Oregon to be at an elevated fire risk at least through August. And Monday morning, Portland Parks & Recreation issued a tweet warning against any open flames in Portland parks or natural areas. “It’s more important now than ever,” the agency wrote.
Please do NOT use ANY open flame in any Portland park or natural area. It's more important now than ever. https://t.co/EUMuz0gXrD
— Portland Parks & Rec (@PDXParksandRec) July 12, 2021
It is unclear if the two explosions are related. “Detectives have not determined whether or not they are connected,” says bureau spokesman Lt. Greg Pashley.
The Police Bureau said Monday that the Portland Fire Arson Investigations Unit and the Metropolitan Explosives Disposal Unit are investigating the incidents. The latter group, known as EDU for short, “identifies, transports and disposes of all criminal explosives and ordinance materials in Clackamas County and the Portland metropolitan area,” the webpage for the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office says.
The team consists of two Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies, as well as 13 “highly trained bomb technicians” from PPB, the Gresham Police Department, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Port of Portland, according to the agency’s webpage.