U.S. National - AP
Calif. Police Search Truck for Explosives
Mon Jun 23, 9:52 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP
BURBANK, Calif. - Authorities with bomb-sniffing dogs investigated a big-rig truck parked near the Burbank airport early Monday, after having gotten a tip that a truck driver was headed to town, possibly with terrorism in mind.
The truck was on a road on the city border with Los Angeles near the northwest section of the airport. It was parked at the gate of a so-called fuel farm where tens of thousands of gallons of aircraft fuel is stored.
"We are investigating possible explosives on a parked tractor-trailer near the Burbank airport," said a Los Angeles police officer who said he was too busy to give his name.
Television news helicopters showed officers standing inside the trailer as a forklift began to unload a container inside it. No driver was visible and the officers were not wearing protective gear. Bomb-sniffing dogs were also on the scene.
Authorities had been on alert for a big rig since the California Highway Patrol in Barstow received an anonymous telephone call Saturday afternoon, CHP Officer Brian Joy said Sunday. The man told authorities that a big rig towing a 50-foot green trailer was on its way to the Burbank airport and would probably arrive sometime Monday.
The caller was in an unknown location in Texas. He said that he used to work with the driver of the truck and that the driver's motive "had to do with the war on terrorism," CHP Commissioner Spike Helmick said Sunday.
The Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport's north-south runway was closed, with air traffic was diverted to the east-west runway instead. Passenger trains were prohibited from stopping at the airport.
Local news radio, KNX, reports that the truck did carry explosives, but they are squibs and such as are used in movie special effects.
Just enough truth to cause concern; basically, a truck carrying fireworks.