5 Bombs Explode Near IRS Center in Fresno

FRESNO —  Five pipe bombs exploded Monday afternoon near an Internal Revenue Service processing center, damaging at least one car and keeping about 3,000 employees inside the center, officials said. No injuries were reported.

Three unexploded bombs were also found, Fresno police spokesman Ron Weber said, including one on the roof of the large center that processes most of the federal income tax returns for residents of California and Hawaii.

“Five went off, two didn’t, one was found in a launcher,” he said.

One explosion in the center’s parking lot shattered some car windows. The other blasts were near some apartments down the street.

“Nobody’s taking credit for any of this jazz,” Weber said.

“I don’t think it was done by high school students. Somebody did some planning,” said William Vizzard, agent in charge of Fresno’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Police found the launching device in a field about 100 yards away from the center.

“We heard a couple of loud explosions, and we had our internal security guard go out in the back,” IRS spokeswoman Martha Rodriguez said.

After guards determined that bombs had exploded in the area, employees were kept inside and people were prohibited from entering the building, she said. The employees were allowed to leave a short time later and were escorted out an entrance away from the area where the explosions occurred.

An estimated 500 to 1,000 IRS employees due to report for work at about 2 p.m. were advised to remain away until bomb experts were sure the area was safe.

A helicopter searched the area looking for more bombs in the vicinity, which was also the site of an explosion Sunday. That blast, outside a union office for IRS employees, shattered windows in the apartment complex where two of Monday’s bombs detonated. It also broke a natural gas line, causing flames that firefighters put out by turning off the gas.