Suspicious device explodes at Nogales power plant

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Suspicious device explodes at Nogales power plant

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FBI and ATF agents responded to a Nogales power plant after a makeshift bomb went off Wednesday.

A makeshift bomb exploded at a Nogales, Ariz., power plant Wednesday morning, damaging a large fuel tank and prompting an investigation by the FBI and federal bomb experts.

Local officials were alerted at 9:30 a.m. to "suspicious activity" at UniSource Energy Services' Valencia Plant. The explosion damaged a diesel storage tank, according to authorities but there were no reports of injuries and authorities said they knew of no suspects or witnesses.

Officials initially reported that the tank had been ruptured by the explosion, causing a fuel spill. Nogales police said Wednesday evening that the tank had only been charred, according to the News 4 station in Tucson.

Officials closed off the power plant and an adjacent car dealership on North Grand Avenue. The FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Arizona Department of Public Safety were called.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, agents were still processing the scene. Arizona Corporation Commission spokesman Rebecca Wilder said there were no power disruptions related to the explosion and the plant suffered only minor damage.

"The reason for the high-scale response is the plant is an electrical substation and critical to the area," Jimenez said, explaining that as many as 30,000 customers in the area — the entire town of Nogales and its environs — depends on the plant for power.

"The whole city of Nogales could have been compromised," he added.

UES is a subsidiary of Tucson-based UNS Energy Corporation, the corporate parent of Tucson Electric Power. UES provides energy to 237,000 customers in Arizona, according to the company website.

The federal investigation continues.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/2014/06/11/nogales-explosion-power-plant-arizona-abrk/10351107/