Bomb Scare Empties Apartment Complex

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Image: Prince William County Fire and Rescue Department

A Dale City man is in jail after police and firefighters evacuated his apartment complex Thursday in a bomb scare.

Alan Michael Blischak (in photo), of 14341 Westway Lane #1F, is being held without bond at the Prince William-Manassas Regional Jail. He’s charged with four counts of the manufacture, possession and use of fire bombs or explosive materials or devices, according to the Prince William County Fire and Rescue Department.

The incident began at about 4 p.m. Thursday at the Dale Forest Apartments, in the 14300 block of Westway Lane, when maintenance workers entered Blischak’s residence for routine work and “observed a suspicious device,” the fire department said.

Materials found in the apartment were deemed hazardous, “involving a meth lab and/or bomb making,” according to a fire department statement.

Prince William police, firefighters and hazardous materials personnel responded to the call from the maintenance workers, and a bomb squad from the Virginia State Police arrived on the scene.

Due to the potential hazard, 45 apartments, in three buildings, were ordered evacuated, the fire department said.

The Fire Department and police helped secure the scene as hazmat technicians, fire marshals and State Police explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) officers inspected Blischak’s unit for explosives and hazardous materials.

The three-story apartment complex was then cleared, and residents were permitted to return to their homes, the fire department said.

The county Fire Marshal’s Office charged Blischak after an investigation that involved county police, the State Police EOD unit, and federal law enforcement personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Department of Homeland Security, the fire department said. The office also consulted with the FBI.