Streets were closed and residents evacuated when an explosion went off near a Jewish temple in Santa Monica yesterday, police said.
No one was hurt in the blast, which was reported about 6:45 a.m. Thursday near Santa Monica Synagogue at 1448 18th St., according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
Santa Monica police Sgt. Jay Trisler said that the explosion “was not an intentional act” and not the result of an “incendiary device.”
The FBI, Santa Monica police and a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad were dispatched to investigate and several nearby residences were evacuated.
The synagogue is a reform congregation with about 250 families and was founded in 1981, according to its Web site. One block west is the Chabad House of Santa Monica. According to a statement yesterday on its Web site, nobody in the building heard the explosion. “During morning services today the police department came to Chabad House in response to a report of an explosion,” according to the statement. “The men that were praying did not hear or feel anything. Rabbi Levitansky grabbed one of the new Torah scrolls so they can finish services, which they did at the corner of 17th and S. Monica.”
