August 27: 36th anniversary of Harvey's Resort bombing

For those that were on the South Shore on August 27, 1980, they'll be able to tell you exactly where they were, or what they were doing when law enforcement detonated a bomb that had been left inside Harvey's Resort casino in Lake Tahoe.

Three men planted a bomb containing 1,000 pounds of dynamite inside a machine they delivered to the second floor. Successful landscaper, John Birges from Clovis, Calif., the mastermind behind the bomb, was attempting to extort $3 million from the casino, claiming he had lost $750,000 gambling there.

After a bungled ransom payoff attempt, no money was every paid to Birges or his accomplices Willis Brown and Terry Hall.

It all began the day before, at 5:30 a.m. on August 26, when Brown and Hall, wearing overalls and disguised as delivery men, took in what appeared to be a large copy machine and left it on the second floor of the 11-story building.

Birges was the third person inside, as he had ridden the service elevator to the same spot.

A supervisor in the slot department at Harvey's noticed the large delivered box and the attached ransom note. That set off 30 hours of constant motion from the Douglas County Bomb Squad, the FBI, bomb disposal teams, national bomb experts, National Guard, law enforcement from nearby communities as well as countless others.

While the bomb experts figured out what to do with the large bomb with 37 mercury switches, the FBI attempted to drop off the money to the drop off point. A helicopter took off from the Lake Tahoe airport with money (though just $5,000 with lots of paper inside the box), but the pilot was unable to find the drop off point and returned to the airport.

A series of blunders from Birges, his accomplice girlfriend and his two sons led the FBI to arresting all four for their part in the crime, along with the two who dropped off the bomb. The younger Birgeses were given leniency for helping the FBI in their investigation and were convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and given three years of probation. Their father was sentenced to 20 years but died in prison of liver cancer in 1996.

At the time of the bombing it was the largest of its kind in the United States, and the largest scene of terrorism within the border. Tahoe Douglas Bomb Squad was called on to train other teams across the country, and the protocols and investigative techniques used at Harveys were used in future similar situations including the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal courthouse, and in 1993, when New York's World Trade Center was bombed.

A one-half mile circumference was cleared of people around the casino, and on the afternoon of August 27, the bomb was detonated. People stood at the end of a closed Highway 50 by the Stateline Raley's, or stood past what is now the Hard Rock (Sahara Tahoe) and MontBleu (Caesars Tahoe). Many took up viewing spots near Heavenly Valley Ski Area or mountains around Kingsbury Grade.

Inside Caesars, employees cleared the floor of casino chips and cash, locking all up. I stood inside the casino cage selling quarters to the numerous members of the press who could call in their stories in a time long before mobile phones. Management opened up the buffet which was where the convention center now stands. Free food and drink to all who didn't want to leave.