Agents Take Photos Of Site Of Blasts Survivalist Held On Charge Of Possessing Hand Grenade

Federal agents on Sunday took aerial photographs of a rural property rocked by explosions last week and prepared to dispose of a cache of remaining weaponry - including hand grenades, rockets and a large bomb.

Raymond Hamblin, 52, of Hood River, a self-described survivalist, was being held without bail on a charge of unlawful possession of a hand grenade pending a detention hearing today in U.S District Court.

Neighbors considered the gun dealer a quiet, pleasant neighbor until his shed blew up Wednesday in a series of explosions. The blasts scattered ammunition and weapons parts across his 16 acres on a plateau overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was still picking up the pieces Sunday.

“We have not started physically collecting evidence because we are still locating hazardous materials,” said Rick VanHaelst, an ATF special agent and commander at the site.

AFT spokesman Jim Provencher said Sunday evening that agents were preparing to dispose of some of the remaining explosives that were too dangerous to move.

Neighbors were warned there would be four or five explosions. They will be much smaller than the original explosions, Provencher said.

“That was a rather large explosion. We don’t want to create another one,” Provencher said.

Agents could not be reached at the site Sunday night, but neighbor Hobart Darter said he heard three explosions, weaker than last week’s blasts, about 6:45 p.m.

Authorities said they had no indication Hamblin was involved in any militia or other anti-government groups.

Hamblin, who was being held without bail in Portland on the hand-grenade charge, told his son the shed’s entry door was booby-trapped and an inside door was set with an explosive device, according to an affidavit filed in court.

About 100 ATF agents, explosives experts, local firefighters, and state and county police have been on hand to help secure the property and investigate.

Hamblin was a general contractor who apparently has earned his living since 1989 by selling shotguns, rifles and handguns. He has a federal firearms license and calls his business Freedom Firearms.