2018 Ethan Towers bombing

Underground damage after the bombing

Notice: Everything mentioned here is 100% fictional. All names used are by pure coincidence.

## 2018 Ethan Towers bombing

The 2018 Ethan Towers bombing, also referred to as the March 13 attacks, was a terrorist attack carried out on March 13, 2018, when two bombs detonated below the main tower of the Ethan Towers complex in Phoenix City. The 1,336 lb (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced devices were planted with the intent to collapse the tower. It failed to do so, but killed 102 people in the process, and caused over two thousand injuries. About 34,000 people were evacuated from the buildings that day.

The attack was planned by a group of terrorists including Gerhard Jankovic, Othmar Kainz, and Petar Fankhauser. In July of 2019, two of the three men were convicted of carrying out the bombing: Gerhard Jankovic, and Petar Fankhauser. The charges included conspiracy, explosive destruction of property, and interstate transportation of explosives. In September 2019, Othmar Kainz, who planted the bombs, was found dead in an apparent suicide.

## Planning and organization

Othmar Kainz spent time at a training camp in Afghanistan, before beginning in 2016 to plan a bombing attack within Ethania. Over the phone, Kainz and Petar Fankhauser discussed a list of potential targets for the attack. While Fankhauser wanted to attack the President's office, Kainz wanted to attack a place which, what he believed, had less security.

Kainz arrived legally in Ethania on November 8, 2017. He set up residence in Phoenix City, Ethania, traveled around the city and talked to his co-conspirators. In January of 2018, Kainz began assembling the 1,500 lb (680 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced devices for delivery to Ethan Towers. He ordered chemicals online.

Kainz and Fankhauser took frequent visits to the complex, visiting the observation deck on numerous occasions. On February 9, 2018, security footage captured the two walking around the parking garage and measuring poles throughout the garage. Multiple witnesses reported the two were shouting at people who drove by them.

## Attack

On Tuesday, March 13, 2018, Othmar Kainz and Petar Fankhauser drove a white 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan into downtown and pulled into the public parking garage beneath Ethan Towers at 1:45 p.m. They parked the van below the tower, next to the staircase and elevator shafts. Kainz ignited the two 26-foot fuses, and fled. Fifteen minutes later, at 2:00 p.m., the bombs exploded in the underground garage, generating an estimated pressure of 154,000 psi each. The bombs opened two 125-ft (38-m) wide holes through four sublevels of concrete. The detonation velocity of the bombs was about 16,000 ft/s (4.8 km/s). The bombs used were similar in design to the one used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The bombs instantly cut off one of Ethan Towers' main electrical power lines, knocking out the complex's lighting system. The bomb caused smoke to rise to the 91st floor of the tower, including through the stairwells, and smoke went up the damaged elevators. With thick smoke filling the stairwells, evacuation was difficult for many building occupants and led to many smoke inhalation injuries. The lobby floor partically collapsed below as a result of the explosion.

One hundred and two people were killed: eight security guards, three electrical workers, and 91 others. Additionally, over 1,000 people were injured, most during the evacuation that followed the blast. Four firefighters were hospitalized, while 78 others, 45 police officers, and two EMS workers were also injured while dealing with the fires and other aftermath.

## Bomb's characteristics

According to the FBI, both 1,310-pound (590 kg) bombs, were made of a urea nitrate main charge with aluminum, magnesium and ferric oxide particles surrounding the explosive. The charges used nitroglycerine, ammonium nitrate dynamite, smokeless powder and fuse as booster explosives.

## Aftermath

### Reopening and cost

One Ethan Towers did not reopen until October 23, 2019. The cost to repair the building was estimated at $305 million, according to the March 13 Committee. The Ramada Inn at Two Ethan Towers remained closed until December of 2019 after repairs and renovations that amounted to $89 million. The concourse level reopened in January of 2020, while the underground parking garage reopened in March of 2020 with tightened security. Construction of a new above ground parking garage completed in 2021 and became the new public parking garage.

The Ethan Towers observation platform reopened in 2021, following months of delays due to Covid-19, at a cost of $68 million.

Three Ethan Towers reopened in late 2019, after having a lobby remodeling. It also received additional structural support.

Four Ethan Towers reopened in January of 2020, after being completely remodeled on the inside.

### Improved security

In the wake of the bombing and the chaotic evacuation which followed, Ethan Towers and many of the firms inside of it revamped emergency procedures, particularly with regard to evacuation of the tower. The Phoenix City Port Authority was to govern as the main security for the Ethan Towers buildings.

Following the attack, a check-in counter was added to the lobby of One Ethan Towers. Visitors and workers are required to have a pass issued by the Port Authority to enter the building. Visitor passes are purchasable on the Ethan Towers website.