Driver loses hand in Jeep explosion in Spokane (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahHyU1YvhIUP0JQlj05d7B06Nw4mE-s2aDTurb9opO75LACfGL7BqoDZqmY2MtkLh-5rla0akEY8ZZjn0BEr5TtPViC0lWTLZVnfV_kmpIVCFL9lNkQXVsImOmvrcc8bW00VhvQjz73g/s1600/24509afa8a1ef603490f6a706700c412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahHyU1YvhIUP0JQlj05d7B06Nw4mE-s2aDTurb9opO75LACfGL7BqoDZqmY2MtkLh-5rla0akEY8ZZjn0BEr5TtPViC0lWTLZVnfV_kmpIVCFL9lNkQXVsImOmvrcc8bW00VhvQjz73g/s1600/24509afa8a1ef603490f6a706700c412.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_16194" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">SEATTLE (AP) — An explosion from a firecracker inside a moving Jeep blew off the driver's hand early Saturday and scattered debris over half a block in Spokane, prompting initial fears over the man's intent, police and neighbors said.</div><div class="body-slot-mod" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.307693481445313px; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em 10px; max-width: 300px;"><div class="yom-remote"><div class="" id="mediacontentrelatedstory_container"></div></div></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_16921" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Witnesses saw a flash of light from inside the vehicle, a red Jeep with a gray top, as it drove down a residential street, police said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_16931" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Donald Wilkes, 61, said the blast rattled his house and woke up everyone inside. He initially thought someone had crashed into his parked truck, and when he ran outside, he found the street filled with smoke and the Jeep stopped just against his 6-foot-tall cedar fence.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_15872" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"I looked around for something that got hit, but there was nothing," Wilkes said. "My son reached in to pull the keys out of the ignition and make sure he didn't go anywhere, and that's when we saw his hand was missing. It blew it right off at his wrist — they found part of it half a block away."</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_16943" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Wilkes' son, 30-year-old Nicholas, and another neighbor applied a tourniquet to the man's left arm. The man was stocky, estimated at about 28 to 30 years old, and coherent. But he wouldn't answer questions about what he had been doing, Wilkes said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"All he did was look at my son and say, 'Oh God, oh God.' He looked like he was going to pass out," Wilkes said. "My main concern was why he was driving around my neighborhood at 1 in the morning with an explosive device."</div><div class="body-related" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative;"><a class="body-related-link body-related-image go-to-slideshow-lightbox rapid-noclick-resp landscape onesize get-lbdata-from-dom" data-rapid_p="8" data-uuid="335207e8-21e6-34aa-9dcd-ff67cd33f7f4" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/jan-15-2014-photograph-provided-donald-wilkes-61-photo-231837413.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="This Jan. 15, 2014, photograph provided by Donald Wilkes,&nbsp;&hellip;"><div class="img-wrap" style="position: relative;"><div class="cta-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.24s linear; font-size: 13px; height: 225px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: background-color 0.24s linear; width: 300px;"><span class="clearfix title cta-text medium" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; color: white; font-size: 16px; left: 5px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; top: 5px; transition: opacity 0.24s linear; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px; zoom: 1;"></span><span class="cta-text xsmall" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; bottom: 5px; color: white; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 42px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.24s linear;">View gallery</span><span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow-xsmall" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.16s linear; background-color: #324fe1; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: cover; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; bottom: 5px; cursor: pointer; height: 23px; left: 5px; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-indent: -1000em; transition: opacity 0.16s linear; width: 32px; z-index: 1;"></span></div><img alt="This Jan. 15, 2014, photograph provided by Donald Wilkes,&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="225" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/YrMOMQL2HL87oN1osqbClw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIyNTtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/5ded24e18a1ef603490f6a7067009d0b.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: visible !important;" width="300" /></div></a><div class="body-related-title photo-caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: grey; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16.5px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px 5px 0px 0px; position: relative; width: 300px;">This Jan. 15, 2014, photograph provided by Donald Wilkes, 61, of Spokane, Wash., shows damage to a J …</div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The explosion blew out several of the Jeep's windows, knocked off its dashboard and splattered blood all over the driver's side door, he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Police and medics arrived within minutes and applied further tourniquets, then brought the man to a hospital, where staff credited the first aid with saving his life.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Officers cordoned off streets in the neighborhood and urged Wilkes' family to leave, but Wilkes, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said the bedrooms are on the other side of the house so they eventually just went back to bed.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">A bomb squad used a robot to find additional explosives in the Jeep and remained on scene until about 7 a.m. defusing them, Spokane Police spokeswoman Monique Cotton said. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms took over after that and would ultimately decide whether to recommend criminal charges.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Cotton called it an isolated incident and said there was no further threat to the community.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Authorities eventually determined the explosion was caused by an M-1000 firecracker, Cotton said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_16973" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">An M-1000 is a cylindrical firework, sometimes sold in boxes promising "maximum blast, super loud."</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_16963" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">___</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390711594789_16953" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Follow Johnson at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle</div></div>

Driver loses hand in Jeep explosion in Spokane (BLOG)

SEATTLE (AP) — An explosion from a firecracker inside a moving Jeep blew off the driver's hand early Saturday and scattered debris over ...

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