Soap Lake Man Injured by Shrapnel in Homemade Bomb Blast

A 55-year-old Soap Lake man is hospitalized after being injured Friday evening by a pipe bomb he was building inside his home.

Neighbors near the 100 block of Adrian Avenue Northwest in Lakeview called deputies around 6 p.m. to complain about the sound of fireworks. As deputies were investigating, staff at Ephrata’s Columbia Basin Hospital called reporting that a man had been driven to the emergency room suffering from blast injuries and shrapnel wounds to his right hand and arm.

Deputies learned the man had been building and handling a pipe bomb inside his home on the 100 block of Adrian Avenue Northwest when it detonated. The man was later flown to a Spokane hospital for treatment.

Grant County deputies and the Washington State Patrol bomb squad gathered evidence and ensured no other explosive devices were inside the home.

The investigation continues.