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| FBI Practice Explosions Rock Cinergy Field, Worry Citizens WCPO News 11/07/02: Brian Patrick Original Link: http://wcpo.com/news/2002/local/11/06/cinergy.html A series of loud explosions rattled windows and citizens' nerves for several hours Tuesday evening. The explosions were so powerful that shockwaves were felt all the way to the top floors of some downtown and riverfront skyscrapers, causing panic and confusion. The half-dozen or so explosions occurred Tuesday night every half-hour from 5:30 p.m. until 8:40 p.m. People in downtown office buildings, especially along Third Street, said they felt reverberations from the blasts. "All of a sudden, this enormous boom explosion occurred," recalled Stephen Lerner, who was on the 35th floor of the Scripps Center located at 3rd and Walnut streets in downtown Cincinnati. "I had no idea what it was," said Lerner. "I had the feeling -- that literally the shock wave went through my body. You could literally feel it in your stomach." "It was scary," said Barbara Elslager, who felt the explosion on the 28th floor of the Scripps Center. "The building shook, the windows shook." Once the initial shock wore off, Elslager, like thousands of others on both sides of the river, began to speculate what caused these explosions. She thought that maybe the crane at the Freedom Center construction site had fallen or perhaps there was a massive explosion somewhere. It turns out the (FBI) federal agency has transformed Cinergy Field into an anti-terrorism training facility this week. F.B.I. agents used the stadium because it's scheduled to be imploded next month, so the federal agency doesn't have to pay for what they break -- or fix anything -- at Cinergy Field. But shockwaves were felt beyond the trainning grounds. "The first thing, I supposed, was this was part of a terrorist act, or something larger than just a weather-type of event," said Steve Mahon, who was also in the Scripps Center Tuesday night. "You could see the concussion shaking the glass for seconds after the blast," added Mahon. The FBI was granted permission by Hamilton County officials to conduct training exercises at Cinergy Field Tuesday night, but without any forewarning the exercises surprised citizens who didn't know what was going on. While the FBI at first would not confirm that explosives were used, county administrators did confirm the information Wednesday morning. "I thought it curious this morning that the FBI spokesman was quoted as saying that he would not confirm that explosives were used. I'll confirm that," said David Krings, a Hamilton County Administrator. "Any anti-terrorism is good for any city," said Jeff Meyrose, a Carew Tower employee, "but, I think a little warning 'cause everybody in my office was wondering if it was thunder -- we weren't sure." Joanie Fiste, a Dayton resident, said, "I think that we definitely need to be notified ahead of time about what's going on." "The bottom line is that the FBI was conducting training exercises and they went over the top in terms of some of the materials that were used. But clearly the public should have been forewarned of that if that was going to be the case," said Todd Portune, a Hamilton County Commissioner. Some local police departments thought earlier on that the blasts were implosion tests for Cinergy Field, which is scheduled for demolition by implosion next month. The F.B.I. and Hamilton County officials have admitted to a communication gap between what was expected and what actually happened Tuesday night. Tuesday night's explosions caught everyone off guard, including Hamilton County commissioners and administrators, who hold responsibility for Cinergy Field. "None of us are happy about how that occurred," said Portune. "That type of activity is not going to occur again in the future." 9News has been told there will be more exercises Wednesday and Thursday nights, but no explosives will be used. "I myself would just as soon have no additional explosives or training exercises until we figure out what the heck is going on down there," said Tom Neyer, also a county commissioner, said Wednesday morning. County administrators granted the F.B.I. permission a couple of weeks ago to train at Cinergy Field, but they claim they were not prepared for what took place Tuesday night. "What we've told them [F.B.I.] directly is nothing like last night will happen again," said Eric Stuckey. After meeting with agents from the Cincinnati-based F.B.I. office later on Wednesday, county leaders softened their position. "I've told them that we want no more large explosions," said David Krings, a Hamilton County administrator. "However, they're free to practice their other tactics." According to Jim Turgel, special agent-in-charge for the Cincinnati F.B.I. office, who spoke off-camera to 9News, large sports stadiums might be considered prime targets for a terrorist attack. Turgel also added that agents from the F.B.I.'s training center in Quantico, Virginia are participating in this week's exercises at the stadium to learn the necessary tactics in order to prepare for and respond to a potential attack. ------------------------------- PRISON PLANET.com |