Roadside pressure cooker prompts Vancouver bomb squad response, closure of I-205 onramp

The southbound Interstate 205 onramp at Mill Plain Boulevard was shut down for several hours Monday due to a pressure cooker left on the side of the road.

Washington State Department of Transportation issued a traffic alert about 10 a.m. stating the onramp would be closed due to debris at Milepost 28.3 of the freeway.

The Vancouver Police Department deployed its Metro Explosive Disposal Unit to check out the pressure cooker,according to a VPD tweet.

The police department’s bomb squad took possession of the cooker, “which was deemed not to be a threat,” spokeswoman Kim Kapp said in an email.

“We don’t know how it got there,” she said.

The onramp reopened Monday afternoon.

Pressure cookers have been used to create improvised explosive devices, including the bombing last year at the Manchester Arena in England, as well as the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.