Originally published November 1, 1997

By John Painter Jr., Rick Bella and Holley Gilbert Corum

A 28-year-old man from the Republic of Georgia who had a series of minor brushes with the law died Friday when a powerful bomb exploded inside his Toyota station wagon in the Rosemere neighborhood.

Oleg A. Babichenko, 28, was killed in the 7:30 a.m. blast at East 28th Street and Grand Boulevard.

Officials would not comment, but it appears that Babichenko might have accidentally detonated the explosive device.

Lt. Rex Woodward of the Vancouver Police Department said federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents told him they found an ignition key to a Toyota in Babichenko's pants pocket.

The explosion rocked the modest residential neighborhood. It blew debris onto roofs a block away on 29th Street, where ATF agents climbed ladders to inspect and retrieve it.

Brian Bice, 34, who lives a block away, was the first person on the scene. He was talking on the phone when he heard a "boom.'"

"I saw debris moving, so then I ran directly over there, and I looked into the window of the car, and the driver was lying over into the passenger seat, and there was a fire starting where his head was,'' Bice said, gesturing with bandaged hands.

"When I pulled him up, his head was on fire, and I started beating it out and yelling for people to help me,'' Bice said. His hands caught fire as he struggled to pull the man from the burning Toyota Corolla.

"He was a pretty good-sized guy, and nobody would help,'' he said.

Bice managed to pull the man's head and torso from the car and, finally, other onlookers helped free the man's feet, which had gotten caught inside.

Bice was taken by ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Medical Center in Portland, where his burns were treated.

By the time Vancouver firefighters arrived, the car was engulfed in flames, firefighter Jeff Johnson said.

He praised Bice for his quick action. ``I don't think enough credit can be given for what he did,'' Johnson said. "For him to do what he did probably knowing, certainly feeling, the injuries he received and he continued, that's pretty heroic.''

Another witness, Cheryl Fitze, was driving on Grand Boulevard about a half-block north of Babichenko's vehicle when the explosion occurred. "It was like an atomic bomb going off, and the flames were rolling up from the top into the sky,'' she said.

A nearby resident who had just sent his daughter to school was walking home when the blast occurred and was almost knocked over.

Brent Luyster, who lives one street over, said he heard subsequent "pops" and thought that ammunition might have been igniting in the flames that followed the blast.

By the time the first police units arrived, the car was a smoky mangle of metal, and Babichenko's body was lying in the middle of Grand Boulevard.

The ATF cordoned off a four-block area around the blast site.

By late afternoon, theories about the explosion were multiplying, but the ATF was saying nothing.

A Seattle ATF spokesman, James L. Provencher, arrived at midafternoon but declined to give any details about a case still under investigation.

Victim a mystery

Little information was immediately available about Babichenko. Washington business license records show that for a few months in 1995, he operated Universal Auto Wrecking at 1423 E St. in Washougal, Wash., but his current occupation could not be readily determined.

Vickie Asher, who rented Babichenko the shop space in a cramped corrugated steel building, described him as a "quiet, fine-looking young Russian."

"I can't believe somebody would do this to him,'' Asher said. "We didn't have a lot of conversations, but we did speak from time to time. He was well-mannered and nice."

Asher said Babichenko did all types of body work at the business, from pulling dents to repainting. However, she said Babichenko and his business associates did not accept any street traffic at the shop.

"All the vehicles were brought in from somewhere else," Asher said. "And I don't know where they came from. There were always a lot of people there, a lot of Russians coming and going."

Asher said there never were any arguments, fights or disputes.

Later in 1995, Babichenko and two relatives, Vera and Andre, sought to rent more space from the Ashers, but a deal could not be reached.

Shortly afterward, one of Babichenko's associates, Nikolas Mikhaylenko, built a shop a few blocks east at 2675 E. St., where Oleg Babichenko reportedly worked. However, their business relationship was not clear.

The building's shop was full of cars under repair Friday. Several other cars were in the lot outside the building.

Pavel Tkachenko, an auto painter there, said he did not know Babichenko well and declined to comment.

According to court records, Babichenko had some minor skirmishes with the law, mostly for failing to appear in court on traffic violations. He also had a domestic violence petition filed against him, but it was dismissed.

A Vancouver police source said Friday there was no record of Babichenko in the department's criminal computer.

Although Babichenko lived in the general vicinity of the blast, there was no ready explanation of why he was sitting in his parked car there when it exploded.

Brian Lanz and librarian Margie Gultry of The Oregonian contributed to this report.