Two small explosions rattle north Gig Harbor neighborhood; homemade bombs suspected

Sheriff’s deputies and the FBI are trying to find out why two homemade bombs exploded at a home just outside Gig Harbor last week.

The explosions on May 17 and May 25, caused only minor damage to a car and a fence, but they rattled neighbors in the 1500 block of 27th Avenue NW.

The first 911 call occurred about 3:58 a.m. on May 17. Gig Harbor firefighters arrived to find a homeowner extinguishing a car fire. They left when she said she needed no help, but came back two hours later, when she called back to report the car was still smoldering.

The explosive device was placed on the back of the vehicle.

“The vehicle has cosmetic damage and the explosion broke it up pretty good, but it’s still running,” said Ed Troyer, the Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman.

“There was some smoldering contents inside,” said Todd Meyer, the assistant fire department chief. “We put it out with a water fire extinguisher.”

At 4:38 p.m. on May 25, firefighters responded to the same home due to another explosion. The device went off near a wooden fence, causing minor damage.

“There were no injuries,” Troyer said. “The problem with these type of things is if they don’t go off or malfunction, they can be deadly.”

There is currently no suspect or known motive. Troyer said he did not want to describe how the explosives were made, as they do not want copycats.

“I can say they appear to be homemade,” Troyer said.

The fire department arrived on scene, but there was no fire.

“Because of the previous experience at that residents, our fire engine staged because of the unknown situation,” Meyer said, using an expression for parking away from the scene. “We staged for law enforcement. They arrived and cleared the scene.”

The FBI and Pierce County Bomb squads arrived at the scene.

There are currently detectives assigned to this case.

This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 12:44 PM.