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2/27 BREAKING NEWS: Loud explosion heard throughout county

POLK COUNTY -- Did you hear that explosion?

February 28, 2013

POLK COUNTY -- Did you hear that explosion?

Around 3 p.m. Wednesday a blast -- sounding like a car backfiring or the quick rumble of thunder, at least in the Dallas area -- was heard throughout a large area of the county.

Exchanges between dispatchers and local officers on the police scanner indicated people were calling in reports of seeing a plume of smoke in the Falls City area, too.

Both the Sheriff's Office and Dallas Police Department received numerous calls about the blast.

"Oh yeah, we got quite a few," said Lt. Jeff Isham with the Sheriff's Office. "Even people in Dallas were calling. Dallas PD got a few suspicious activity calls that were about (the same incident)."

But the drama was short-lived. Shortly after the blast was heard, a call to Weyerhaeuser confirmed the it was nothing more than work in a rock quarry about 5.5 miles up Valsetz Road.

"Apparently, Weyerhaeuser was doing some blasting up there and realized that they should have let us know beforehand," Isham said.