Sharon Stone, Special Accounts Manager for Hannon Security, acted quickly to meet a new customer’s security needs. Sharon received a call from Farm and Home Supply in Waconia asking for 24/7 security coverage to secure the scene of a propane explosion and fire while investigators sifted through debris to try to determine what caused the explosion that took the life of 18-year-old Ryan Samuelson and injured 14-year-old Jerimiah Lyzhoft.

Sharon received the call from Farm and Home Supply Company at noon on Friday, June 12th. Initially, they requested one officer by 10 p.m., then called back at 2 p.m. and requested two officers by 5 p.m. Sharon’s fast response had officers securing the scene to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing the area, assisting with the inspection of vehicles damaged by the explosion, and assisting with the collection of debris from the explosion that was so powerful it sent pieces of metal and debris hundreds of yards from the blast site.  Carver County Sheriff Olson said, "Every piece of this [debris] becomes so important, it's going to give us a story. It's going to tell us the story of how that explosion happened or at least it's going to give us clues."

The propane explosion and fire happened at 4:55 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10, at the Waconia Farm and Home Supply Company.  Surveillance cameras confirmed that just before 4:30 p.m., a man and his 14-year-old son, Jerimiah Lyzhoft, pulled up to the Farm and Home Supply Company in a silver pickup with a 100-pound propane tank to be refilled. Ryan Samuelson, an employee of the Farm and Home Supply Company, had apparently gone into the fill tank shed located next to the 1000-pound propane dispensing station, presumably to get ready to fill the 100-pound tank for the customer. The chest-tall propane tank was just three feet from where Samuelson was standing in the shed.  The tank had not been hooked up to the Farm Supply’s propane fill station, and it was not connected to any other hoses. "For whatever reason, it erupted right there," said Mike Loscheider, General Manager for Farm and Home Supply Company.

The explosion from inside the shed sent shrapnel flying, damaging the store and cars parking in the company lot. The blast rattled homes blocks away from the business and scattered debris several blocks from the scene. Shrapnel apparently severed a 1-1/4 inch line of the fill station tank, which then began spewing out the remaining 100 gallons of propane that was in the 800-gallon tank, a 15-20 foot flame gushed out of the tank and fueled a fire in the main building, and in the sprawling compound that includes several buildings, fuel tanks, and a nursery area. The 14-year-old boy whose father brought in the tank suffered burns to his arms. Sheriff Olson said the boy was sitting in the passenger side of the truck about 30 feet from the blast. The truck, which was damaged, probably saved the boy's life or kept him from more serious injuries. 

A recent study released by the Ponemon Institute revealed startling results about the lack of awareness and enforcement of computer security policies at many businesses. The study, “Trends in Insider Compliance with Data Security Polices” found that many employees engaged in behavior that could seriously put their company in risk of a cyber attack or information theft. Other findings in the report also include: A majority of employees admitted to such behaviors as improper use of a USB memory stick, using Web-based email accounts, sharing passwords, and turning off computer security settings. Nearly 69 percent of those surveyed said they had copied confidential company information onto a USB device. Only 13 percent of respondents said that their companies had a policy that allows for such actions. Another 61 percent of respondents admitted to copying information onto a USB stick and then transferring the data onto another computer. More than half of the respondents said that their companies provide inadequate training as it relates to computer and network security. About half of the employees surveyed said that their companies’ security policies are simply ignored.

Source: securityinfowatch.com

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced to the Senate that U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will now be given more authority to make drug arrest along the U.S – Mexico border. The decision will considerably increase the amount of federal drug agents along border areas. The decision was praised for finally ending years of disputes between the Justice Department and Homeland Security, as well as creating more interagency cooperation in order to protect the American public. By law, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have authority to investigate federal drug crimes, with the FBI concentrating on organized crime. Under an agreement that has not been updated since 1994, DEA also gave arrest authority to U.S. customs agents who make seizures at border crossings. However, since ICE took over customs investigations with the creation of the Homeland Security Department in 2003, it has pushed for expanded authority to match its bigger presence at the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout the country.

Source: The Washington Post

Police in Indianapolis charged Fifth Third Bank manager Dwayne Roberts, 31, with arson and theft after the failure of his scheme to cover up embezzlement. Police said that Roberts elaborately staged a fire inside a locked vault so that an undeterminable amount of money would burn up, thus perhaps covering his cash shortage. However, after Roberts had set the fire and locked the vault, he realized he had left his keys inside and could not re-open the vault or lock the bank's doors or drive home. [Indianapolis Star, 5-12-09]

Investigators with the Government Accountability Office (GOA) were able to carry bomb-making materials past 10 security checkpoints at several federal buildings according to a GOA report. According to early reports investigators were able to construct and assemble the explosive devices in restrooms, put the devices in a briefcase and carry them throughout the buildings. The investigation showed that both guards and X-ray machines failed to detect anything suspicious coming into the buildings. At one site a guard failed to look at the X-ray screen while the bomb making devices passed through the machine, while at another location investigators found a guard asleep.

Source: The Los Angeles Times

Did you know…
Smooth peanut butter is more popular on the East Coast of the United States; Chunky is more popular on the West Coast.