Misused fireworks smash Beaverton police car window, spark Lake Oswego dumpster fire
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - While fireworks lit up the night sky across the country on Thursday, first responders were on high alert as a lot can go wrong.
On Thursday morning, a Beaverton police officer was on his way to a call around 2 a.m. and driving along 158th Avenue when an explosion went off.
“He felt the right side of his patrol vehicle explode,” said Matt Henderson, a Beaverton Police Department spokesperson. “Up there off of Greenbrier.”
He said the passenger side of the patrol car was damaged.
“It was a large enough explosion that it gave him kind of a headache and he ended up having to go home,” Henderson said.
After the initial call was resolved, officers returned to the scene of the explosion and said they found what was left of a drink can.
“It had been packed full of explosive and that’s what exploded,” Henderson said. “An incendiary device, like an IED had gone off on the passenger side of his patrol vehicle and it caused his vehicle window to break.”
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Meanwhile, a few hours earlier on Wednesday night in Lake Oswego, fire crews responded to a dumpster fire at the Westlake Shopping Center they said was caused by improperly discarded fireworks.
Lake Oswego Fire said the flames did reach the building next to it, but firefighters were able to prevent it from spreading any further.
Damages from this incident are estimated to be around $30,000.
Back in Beaverton, officers warn against modifying fireworks.
“Fireworks are dangerous to begin with and then when we modify them to create larger explosive devices, it’s extremely dangerous,” Henderson said.
As a reminder, personal fireworks, including sparklers, are banned in the City of Portland.
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