Poultry plant truck explodes, mystifies

After an explosion at Sims Poultry, Inc. early Friday morning, the poultry plant is still up in arms about what really happened and what the plant's next move will be.\nRichard Dunbar, owner of Sims Poultry, Inc., can't explain the explosion -- one which appears to have been deliberate.\n"I don't know if I actually know what happened," Dunbar said. \nAround 4 a.m. Friday, a poultry truck parked at the plant exploded, startling a nearby neighbor.\nThe explosion woke Cathy Haggerty, a resident of the area, who said the neighborhood is generally noisy.\n"I got up to see if a transformer had blown," Haggerty said, "but I didn't see anything."\nHaggerty laid back down, but was woken again by popping and cracking, which he said, sounded like "something was hot."\n"I looked out and saw smoke," she said. \nHaggerty immediately called 911.\nJugs, which appear to have been full of gasoline, where also placed under the other poultry trucks. \n"There was a device that appeared to be set with a timer," Dunbar said. "But if it went off, it didn't do what it intended."\nWhether the timer went off or the jugs were filled with gasoline, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), now in charge of the investigation, will determine the cause. \nPenny Sims, communications director for the mayor, said the city and plant are forced to wait on a verdict from the ATF of what actually happened and who may be behind the explosion.\n"As long as it's an ATF investigation, they handle all elements of the investigation," Sims said, leaving the Bloomington Police Department without jurisdiction over the case.\n"They haven't asked assistance (from the BPD)," Sims said.\nSpecial agent Jeff Groh of the ATF is currently in charge of the investigation. Groh was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.\nAs the ATF investigates the explosion, the poultry plant is looking to get back to normal.\n"We didn't have a whole lot of damage," Dunbar said. "We didn't suffer a lot of physical damage, but it could've been much worse."\nAs for the motive behind the explosion, Dunbar doesn't know why his plant was targeted.\n"We don't kill chickens here," Dunbar said. "We don't do anymore than the local supermarkets."\nThe poultry plant doesn't do the actual processing and acts as a middle man between processors and suppliers.\n"For some reason, we're targeted," Dunbar said. \nIn 1993, animal rights groups targeted the plant, painting graffiti on the poultry trucks.\nDunbar doesn't think the attacker is a disgruntled employee due to the size of the company and the turnover rate the plant has had.\nThe plant is now looking at new ways to protect its property and workers. Dunbar has been researching prices on security fences and cameras.\n"It'd give us more of a sense of security," Dunbar said.