The Topoff counterterrorism drill turned into a real-life police lockdown this afternoon after three bomb-sniffing dogs alerted authorities to possible explosives in the parking garage of the Doubletree Hotel Portland at 1000 NE Multnomah Blvd. A portion of the Topoff drill was scheduled to take place at the hotel later today.

Portland police have cordoned off several blocks stretching from Northeast Multnomah Street to Holladay Street and Ninth Avenue to 13th Avenue, around the Lloyd Center. They've also shut down MAX trains through the area, and the hotel and some surrounding buildings are being evacuated.

Topoff activities have been scaled back this afternoon, while authorities deal with the situation. Police spokesman Brian Schmautz said officers were sweeping the area in advance of visits by "dignitaries" as part of the drill. Homeland Security chief Michael Certoff is in Portland for the Topoff drill and was, according to a FEMA employee evacuating the hotel, scheduled to be there this afternoon. The FEMA employee declined to give his name, saying he didn't have authorization to talk to the press.

Police were using a pair of "explosives sensitive" police dogs in the sweep, Schmautz said. "One dog got an alert at this car. The second dog was called in and also gave an alert." A third dog later came to the parking garage, and had the same reaction as the first two.

Authorities initially focused on one vehicle, which turned out to be owned by a participant in the Topoff exercise. The car's owner was located and is cooperating, and police now say they are expanding the search to other vehicles in the garage. It's windy, Schmautz said, so it's possible the dogs are picking up smells from any of several vehicles in the same area.

There are a number of military and Homeland Security employees in the area for the counterterrorism exercise, so Schmautz says it's possible one of their vehicles inadvertently picked up explosive residue or something else that might set off the dogs. But until authorities know more, he said, "we are going to evacuate everything we need to evacuate."


If they cannot even conduct a training exercise without screwing everything up, what happens when something real happens?

I'd rather they focus on the real crime in the city, not these far fetched "24" type scenarios.

So, you'd rather put your head in the sand, and wait quietly, until someone sets off a WMD of some type in the us.

No, I'd rather worry about REAL threats rather than a threat that has virtually no chance of ever happening. Crime is a real threat. Floods are a real threat. Earthquakes are a real threat.

5 bucks says this will not turn out to be a case in which we needed to put our heads between our legs and know that we are going to die.

Anyone wanna take that bet?

I bet it will be something simple that is not terrorism related.

I'm looking forward to a similar counterterrorism drill to be conducted in Boring soon. We've got acres of Christmas trees out here - a prime target for those Islamofascists. If they take out the trees, well, there goes Christmas, and the terrorists (along with the secular left) has won.

(My god, O'Reilly was right! How could I have been so blind!?)

Add to Vites list: Volcanoes

FEMA had an operation named Topoff in an area full of world renowned microbreweries and wineries. I am sure it was followed by an exercise named Swayhome, Weavecar, Callacab or some other newspeak nonsense.

Local folks, local laws and local authorities are better at protecting their neighbors from monsters both real and imagined. The most tragic times in the Clinton years were due to Federal law enforcement usurping local authority and the Constitution. That sort of reasoning is bipartisan and dangerous.

Take a memo seriously, patrol our skies with the best fighting men, alert the FAA, the airports, our firemen and police forces, and 9/11 does not happen. Play wargames, spread fear, waste money, ignore the Gulf states, and pretend to work and you have the FEMA of now.

They still consider their involvement in the 1980 eruption as a rousing success, but the locals will tell you that they were simply bull teats. I have a huge box of clippings that stretch clear through the aftermath, and may someday assemble a montage of Federal bumbles for our amusement.

I also have a friend who works at that hotel and I am still waiting to find out the skinny on the panic. My bet is Guatemalan food.

Any update on what really happened?

It turned out to be residue from all the vehicles that were at PIR for the "big show".

It was real windy and the scent of the explosives confused the dogs.

If I remember correctly, they said it was on multiple vehicles parked in several locations and the wind scattered the scent.

What kind of residue?

I guess it was from when they were blowing stuff up at PIR.

With the wind, some of the stuff must have blown onto the vehicles that were parked there.

Oh oh - PIR was a staging area for the drill too? I didn't know that. OK. Geeze though - that's like 10 miles away isn't it? Or no - you mean some of the vehicles were at PIR for another part of the drill and were brought over to the hotel and THAT'S when they sniffed the residue?

Yeah. I can be a little short on the uptake sometimes.

Or no - you mean some of the vehicles were at PIR for another part of the drill and were brought over to the hotel and THAT'S when they sniffed the residue?

Yep!

Well I at least hope that the dogs used at PIR gave a positive signal too.

"Put your legs between your knees"

I tried it, I can't do it. Nobody else that I know can do it either. Kind of like touching your ear with your tongue, but I do know someone who can talk out of both sides of their mouth