Originally published at: After 39 years, the Harvey's Casino Bomb remains "one of the most unique improvised explosives devices the FBI has ever come across" | Boing Boing
…
11 Likes
The bomb exploded, creating a five-story crater in the hotel.
The FBI has another satisfied customer.
24 Likes
takes notes for Shadowrun campaign
16 Likes
So much for “the house never loses.”
15 Likes
How have I never heard about this. Found a few videos.
I inadvertently blew up a large hotel in Seattle in Shadowrun. It remains probably the best highlight ever in an RPG game.
20 Likes
This is a great long-read piece on it.
14 Likes
Oh that’s amazing. I’ve only blown out the walls on a single floor of an apartment with a “gas leak” (that I caused by cutting several gas lines) in Brave New World.
4 Likes
I learned about this from a writeup that Damn Interesting did a few years back:
7 Likes
Obligatory:
21 Likes
“one of the most unique” eh?
Can I get my pedant’s badge by pointing out “unique” cannot take qualifiers like this?
20 Likes
When I lived in Kazakhstan, the city (claimed it) didn’t have enough money to buy the coal to heat water to pump throughout the city. The buildings never got warmer than 40F, and was usually closer to 32F than not. People started using cheap heating coils to warm their apartments, draining massive power, so the city instituted rolling blackouts to handle the load. So people started running their gas ovens for heat.
The inevitable happened: a gas stove’s flames somehow went out, but the gas was still running. Homeowner returned, flipped on the lights, and blew up the apartment, collapsing that portion of the building, killing several people.
The government’s first thought was that the Chechens blew it up for some reason, but it was quickly determined that it was gas.
So the city stopped distributing gas. People bought cheap propane cylinders from China. Several blew up. Less damage, but still explosions around the city. Eventually, gas service was reinstated, and rolling blackouts were changed to allow more rational heating of the city. Eventually market traders brought in oil heaters, and the heating crisis calmed down. Hot water was never turned back on that winter, but we had hot water the following winter.
Gas leaks suck. Living in the FSU was often exciting, in the wrong way.
24 Likes
i guess i’m pleasantly surprised to learn that it’s been only 39 years since 1980
6 Likes
“How can you justify destroying a $7M mini-mall to rescue a girl whose ransom was only twenty-five thousand dollars?”
9 Likes
6 Likes
FBI: “Hey I know, let’s use explosives to disarm it!”
Also- anyone got any ideas why the toilet float?! Surely flooding the unit would cause electrical mayhem regardless?
2 Likes
They could flood it with a nonconductive, viscous fluid (like a heavy motor oil) to negate shock and vibration sensors. But that float would counter that workaround.
16 Likes
10 Likes
Note to self: add ‘x-ray detector’ to trigger list in the specs.
13 Likes
That actually is a viable tactic for some bombs. You destroy the device that triggers the explosion, with out triggering the actual explosion.
Clearly that guy thought of that.
10 Likes
“These are just jokes, FBI guy.”
4 Likes
