Who'd do something like that
They must have peed someone or some people off.
Bomb threats prompt mass evacuations
Kelly Sinoski
Vancouver Sun; with files from the Nanaimo Daily News
Friday, April 18, 2008
Bomb threats to Department of Fisheries and Oceans offices in Vancouver, Nanaimo and Prince Rupert Thursday afternoon led to mass evacuations of the government offices in all three cities.
Hundreds of people left the DFO offices after someone reportedly called in the threat to staff members at the individual sites shortly after 3 p.m.
Police officers, fire officials and bomb-sniffing dogs were called in to search each of the offices, but no bombs were located. The offices were expected to reopen today.
"There was a threat; as a result of the threat we evacuated the building as an employee and public safety measure," DFO spokesman Terry Davis said.
As for who would call in such a threat, he said: "We have no idea."
Employees in Vancouver's 18-floor Burrard Street building, which includes Environment Canada, were advised over the public address system to leave in an orderly fashion.
The building was then swept to ensure no one was left behind before it was locked down.
"When I left the building, there had been no sign of an explosive device being discovered at all," Davis said.
In Prince Rupert, police and fire officials cordoned off a one-block area on Second Avenue in the downtown commercial district after the bomb threat to the DFO offices there. The DFO offices, neighbouring city hall and several shops and residences were evacuated.
RCMP Insp. Bob Kilbery said no bombs were found in an initial search. About a dozen police officers and fire officials remained at the site Thursday night.
In Nanaimo, hundreds of federal employees were told to leave their offices Thursday.
Police and fire crews closed off both the Pacific Biological Station and most of Front Street shortly after 3 p.m. "It was quite organized," biological station scientist Jim Irvine said of the evacuation. "There was certainly no panic."
ksinoski@png.canwest.com© The Vancouver Sun 2008
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