DCSO, OSP detectives find site of blasts near Fryrear Butte, possibly caused by exploding targets

(Update: Adding video, comments from woman who felt blasts)

Say it was Tannerite or similar material

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Deschutes County Sheriff's Office detectives, aided by Oregon State Police Bomb Squad detectives, said Monday they found the location of the 2-3 very loud explosions that rocked residents over a wide area of the High Desert, near Fryrear Butte, and believe they may have been caused by Tannerite or other exploding-type targets.

The site of the explosions was south of Jordan Road, near Fryrear Butte, Sergeant Jayson Janes said Monday afternoon.

"Based on evidence located at the scene, detectives believe the explosions were possibly caused by Tannerite or similar exploding-type targets," Janes said, adding, "This incident is still being investigated and further information will be released at a later time."

Kathy Wren, who has lived in Redmond for 40 years, told NewsChannel 21 the explosion rattled her patio door.

“It was enough to be scary, and I got up and ran," Wren said Monday. “I talked to my cousin in Sisters, and they were both sound asleep in bed -- and they both jumped up out of bed. It was loud enough to wake them up from a good sleep.”

The thunderous booms shook or even rocked homes and windows, scared many people and spooked animals Sunday night over a wide area from Sisters to Redmond-Terrebonne and Tumalo to Bend, even reportedly felt south of La Pine. Dispatchers were flooded with dozens of calls, as many residents scrambled went outside and/or went online to try to learn just what happened.

The first blast was felt around 9 p.m. and the second and third about 45 or so minutes later, according to reports from across the region, from Sisters to Terrebonne and Redmond to Bend Airport east of town.

Sheriff's deputies initially were called out to the Fryrear Road area, near the county’s garbage transfer station, not far from the scene of a March 2020 explosion on county-owned property east of Sisters that rattled windows a mile away and left debris, as well as a metal couch frame hanging from power lines 20-plus fee in the air.

Hundreds if not thousands of people got on social media such as Facebook groups, Nextdoor, Reddit and the like to report what they'd heard or felt and learn what they could from others. One or two rumbles also were heard in the Bend area.

Tegan Allen, who lives at the Cline Falls Mobile Home Park on Highway 126 west of Redmond, said it “shook like an earthquake or bomb went off! We all went outside to see what was going on, to see all of our neighbors outside and frightened, not sure if we were having an earthquake or if we were getting bombed.”

Dispatchers were flooded with calls, such as one caller who said the sound that awakened him was like a loud gun. Another said it sounded like a plane crash.

The sheriff's office posted a brief note Monday morning on Facebook, saying, "Our deputies and detectives are continuing to investigate this incident. Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot release further information at this point." Sergeant Jason Jaynes said 911 dispatchers took over 70 calls Sunday night from those who felt or heard the booms, or both.

Some were surmising that an explosive like Tannerite was in use by someone, but others said that wouldn't be felt over such a wide area. A resident on George Cyrus Road east of Sisters said both booms shook and jolted her house and that the second "was much louder than the first. … so so loud, and we had a glass fall off of our kitchen counter and break."

Others tied it to other similar booms or blasts in recent months, such as a northeast Redmond resident. Some said it sounded like thunder -- others said it did not.

At the Green Acres RV Park north of Bend, a resident said, "It didn't shake our trailer -- it was just a loud sound, like a sonic boom." (We reached out to the Oregon National Guard to see if any training exercises might have been underway in the area.)

Others pointed out that there have been reports for several weeks, at all times of day, of unexplained booms and explosions - some in the middle of the night or early morning, when construction blasting would be unlikely. (In at least one case authorities tied the boom to ODOT blasting work east of Bend).