bomb scare disrupts topoff drill

from oregonian: The Topoff dirty-bomb drill turned into a real-life bomb scare this afternoon after a trio of bomb-sniffing dogs alerted authorities to possible explosives on the first floor of the parking garage of the Doubletree Hotel Portland at 1000 NE Multnomah Street. Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was scheduled to be at the hotel for part of the Topoff counterterrorism exercise later in the day.

terror drill turns into the real deal near lloyd center
from katu: Bomb-sniffing dogs being used for a TOPOFF exercise in northeast Portland on Thursday detected the real thing, prompting police to cordon off a hotel, close nearby streets and shut down the MAX.

According to Brian Schmautz with the Portland Police Bureau, as officials were doing a sweep of the Doubletree Hotel located near the Lloyd Center (in preparation for the TOPOFF exercise), bomb-sniffing dogs got a hit on several vehicles in the vicinity.

Police immediately cordoned off the area so they could investigate. They later discovered that the dogs had detected traces of explosives in police and military vehicles that were involved in the exercise that was being staged. The bomb residue is something common in those type of vehicles.

MAX service resumed just before 4:30 p.m. and police began clearing the area shortly after.