I'll relate this story without specific locations:

[PCIntern]

As I have discussed for sixteen-plus years here, I practice in Center City Philadelphia and many years ago we had an underground electrical fire not far from me. It was a catastrophe from the viewpoint of functioning infrastructure, and electrical, phone, and gas lines we’re severely disrupted fora fair amount of time and quite frankly, we still have sewer smells we never had before, but I digress.

One of my patients was a veteran Bell Telephone of PA lineman who had been called in to assist in the repair, and he had come to see me in a lunch hour. Now this was way before 9/11/2001. We were discussing the damage done and he took that opportunity to tell me that there were a couple choke points nearby where a fire OR A TERRORIST could disrupt phone service on a mammoth basis, far beyond that which would be evident to a lay person who was not familiar with communications theory and design. Then he said something I will never forget: there is a structure which is right on the street at a corner where a truck bomb (his words) would cripple long distance, emergency calls, and other aspects he would not discuss for months or even longer. He was rather matter-of-fact about most things but he was very serious here, and he said that all communication eventually “goes to ground” and this was ground zero.

The reason it was so memorable is that it was a lot of inside info coupled with a disaster scenario that was so easily attained by one or a group of miscreants. I drive by that building every day and think about him most days. Yesterday was no exception.

[MontanaMama]

1. This is fascinating.

And really frightening. The RV terrorist(s) didn’t act alone. I believe more is coming.

[Arne]

2. Very pertinent point.

You know how a tree has roots?

So does a city.

[dalton99a]

3. They knew where to park the RV.

[llashram]

9. the only thing I know

they will be caught and will pay for their evil stupidity and ignorance. We are awake now after 4 years of their potus. HE is the first white American terrorist enabler who is a failed potus. And now is also a squatter being evicted from our of our House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[Gore1FL]

12. Those street views don't look like the same place.

The building faces and skyline are different.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. I noticed that also.

[Uncle_Remus]

14. They are facing opposite directions

[BumRushDaShow]

27. I saw an embedded video of an IP camera view of the street when the explosion happened

that was posted on Youtube (various outlets are apparently circulating this now - found it on The Tennesean) -

You can't see any RV in this fish eye camera recording but you can see that the camera is located across from what is apparently a multi-story parking garage (with a Sbarro's on the 1st floor), which is visible in the 2nd (explosion aftermath) pic at to far end of the pic, and the explosion flash in the video appears to come from the right side of the video image (where every damn car parked in that garage had their car alarms go off with that blast). There is a "154" address in the video image so I believe this camera may have been located at what appears to be the saloon "Coyote Ugly" about 1/2 a block from the explosion.

Locating the Spaghetti Factory in the 1st pic, I believe that is from a (generic) view looking along the same street but from the other end, where the garage seen in the 2nd pic (and in the video) is behind you. I.e., both the Spaghetti Factory and the Melting Pot restaurants were almost directly across from the AT&T building.

As a note, the Google street view image associated with that 1st pic was dated July 2019, so not the most recent image for that street (I was just looking at street view for that area and saw that same parked red truck).

[Marthe48]

20. If American terrorists

I think the damage should be left for a length of time. The ruined buildings, the debris, even the phone disruption. Let the people who applaud the destruction of American culture by American citizens (domestic terrorists) live with the results for awhile. I am not saying that everyone in TN or Nashville is a traitor, but all of the people who voted for impeached traitor anywhere need to see what they are getting by supporting his right wing, fascist, racist, and anti-American culture.

If the criminals are found and arrested, strip them of their citizenship and send them to Gitmo.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. The physical destruction can be left in place,

but how long are you personally willing to go without phone service?

[Marthe48]

41. Maybe just a few days

When I was a kid, some of the teachers would punish a whole class, because we wouldn't tattle. In this case, I'd be glad to accept some discomfort, to remind me that there are rats out there, and maybe remind nonrats what we could lose if the rats keep tearing things up.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

42. Remember, a lot of people think wearing a mask

is far too much to ask. Be without phone service for a few days? I doubt it.

[Klaralven]

4. Civilization sits atop a less robust technological foundation than most imagine.

[PCIntern]

5. That photo gives me vertigo

People are nuts.

[Klaralven]

7. It should

[NoRoadUntravelled]

23. Very true.

There are other examples besides our communications infrastructure where we are vulnerable. It seems nothing is done to protect them or at least to make it more difficult for those with nefarious intentions.

[Texin]

10. If telecommunications disruption was the aim

in the case of this Nashville explosion, then it would seem that someone with extensive knowledge about this location (if indeed it is AT&T's operation) would be indicated here.

[cwydro]

11. This Nashville thing could even be a disgruntled employee.

Sad that that could even be true, but I’m not ruling anything out.

We’ll know soon enough.

[safeinOhio]

18. That was my firs thought. Phone worker gone Postal.

AT&T has been cutting jobs and sending them overseas for a couple of years now.

[cwydro]

29. Yeah, sad to think, but I'd actually prefer that to anything else.

Anyway, I guess it’s useless to speculate, but the location, the day, the apparent target, the seeming attempt to avoid injuries...

[MustLoveBeagles]

15. K&R

[BobTheSubgenius]

16. There are so many sensitive locations that could become crippling disasters.

Chemical plants and nuclear power plants have potential to be two of the worst-case scenarios, which isn't hard to imagine.

What is hard to imagine is how easy it would be and how little had been done to harden these targets, as of the time of the various reports/exposes. Perhaps more has been done to protect America from these, but in a post-911 world, I'd have thought that television reporting wouldn't have been necessary to get them either off their asses, or more willing to cut a couple of points off their bottom line. That doesn't seem unreasonable to expect in order to protect hundreds of thousands would suffer anything from major inconvenience and annoyance, all the way up to grim, agonizing death and all the points in between.

And that was 100's of 1000's per attack, not in total.

[malaise]

17. There is so much of what makes our societies function that we take for granted

These are some serious times

Happy New Year to you and yours PCIntern

[Marthe48]

22. After the snow storm Christmas Eve

I was fixing my coffee, and I was grateful that the power hadn't cut out, and appreciated running water, just being mindful about what I usually take for granted.

[malaise]

26. So true

We really take simple things for granted -until we lose power and running water.
Sometimes I celebrate a plain glass of cold water.
Happy New Year to you and yours

[Marthe48]

33. I am always grateful

I have lived for extended periods of time without indoor plumbing, always grateful for that! And although power supply is more stable, we can lose power for hours or even days.

Happy New Year, malaise

[oldsoftie]

19. we have a horribly weak electrical grid; along with other services.

We need SERIOUS hardening of our electrical grid. Its always talked about but never acted on. This falls on both parties. Its not a "sexy" project so it gets ignored. A terrorist could shut down large sections of the countries power without a huge effort. Or we could have another Carrington event like what happened in 1859. If that had happened 100 yrs later or happened now, we would be in the dark for a LONG time. The large transformers that run our systems 1- arent even made in the US anymore; 2- take a LONG time to make. Do we have spares in the US for emergencies? No.

We need to deal with this and other problems.
I remember when Trump was running one of his main points was a "major infrastructure program". He brought it up a few times after being elected. But Congress, of course, never would take it up. They never do.
One day, we'll find out what its like to live in the 1800s again.

[Marthe48]

25. This has been a concern for decades

and the upgrades we need keep getting kicked down the road. With high umemployment because of Covid-19, this would be a good time to put people to work OUTSIDE, (weather permitting) to work on updating our grids and installing security to protect it.

And if possible, put people in PPE to work inside doing the same upgrades. Decentralize whatever we can to make terrorists' targets less impactful.

[oldsoftie]

31. Yes, all good ideas. From your typing fingers to the ear of congress!!!

And the thing is, the cost to do whats needed isnt even that high. Est, 4 billion

[Marthe48]

34. I hope we follow through

Thank you

[OldBaldy1701E]

44. No

we need for individual structures to generate their own power. This is the 21st century, and we already have the technology to do this. Being connected to everything means one shot will affect everything. They will not fix this, because of profits they will never get again when each house can make their own electricity. Having a central power location is idiotic, and yet we still have that and other shaky systems that were outdated 40 years ago. Yes, we need to deal with this but you have to remove the greed/control factor or it will never get passed the 'we need to' stage.

[oldsoftie]

46. Of course we have the tech. What we DONT have is the money.

How do you propose to pay for millions of homes to be totally off the grid? And "tax the rich" is not a real answer. And what about stores? Manufacturing plants? Water treatment plants? Prisons? Airports? How does any commercial building of any size totally go off the grid?
Every other developed country is still using electricity provided by a grid.

[OldBaldy1701E]

47. Forgive me

But this desire to parrot the talking points of those who profit from the current situation is not helping. How about we worry about fixing thing as opposed to worrying about paying for things. Or are you saying that only money will fix everything? The worship of cash is why we are where we are in the first place. There is no way to do anything without it? That is so frightening that I prefer not to think about it personally.

[oldsoftie]

48. well then please, tell us how you convert homes for free.

How to provide the labor for free. How to provide the materials for free. How to make the materials for free. Etc Etc.
I dont "parrot" anyone. I just simply live in the real world & deal with reality.

[OldBaldy1701E]

51. You mean

the reality that says a little green piece of paper is the most important thing in the universe, and there is no other reality. You mean that one? The one that exists solely because we say it does? It is amazing to me that, in our past, there were plenty of people who managed to survive, if not thrive, without being beholden to a piece of paper. Now, of course, there is only one way to live, and that is as an unabashed capitalist. Wow.

I believe our government should start a conversion program. One that offers to convert older homes using incentives. We should be building no new 'grid' homes. There should be a timeline for this, because we all know that corporations will never change unless forced to. We need to start thinking about the future and stop living in the past. You speak of all this 'free' stuff as if it would be impossible. Not if we stop attaching a monetary value to every single thing. (How much does Jimmy Carter get paid for building each house he works on?) And, this could happen, but not until we stop believing what the the people who profit the most from the current situation keep telling us. Money does not buy everything and constantly being beholden to this philosophy has cost us dearly in lost humanity and ignorant policies.

Or, do you prefer things as they are?

[oldsoftie]

52. "Incentives" is a dirty word to a lot of folks here!

Of course money is attached to almost everything. Thats how this type of society works. Just like most every other developed society. Thats not going to change. Look at a view from space of the WORLD.
Sure, give incentives to get homes off the grid. I'd love MINE to be. And I certainly agree that we should develop more renewables. But you'll never do away with the grid. You cant take apartment buildings, airports, hospitals or any other facilities like that out of it. So we still need to make it secure.

[OldBaldy1701E]

53. I see...

One: Incentives is only a dirty word when it applies to anything other than one party's mindset. When that party is getting them, it sure doesn't seem like a dirty word then. Two: Looking at the world from space just shows me that our American rot has taken over the planet. I mean, you do understand that this type of society works solely because those in power say it works. That is how they remain in power. It is not the only way things can operate, it is just the current way things operate. And, that operation has shown itself to be too corruptible and malignant to remain viable. (Face it, we give three billion a year to Israel while we have our own citizens starving and homeless. That is 'developed'?) Three: How can anyone suggest looking at the world as a whole when that world is becoming more and more unjust and biased? As I asked before... do you prefer things this way? Four: The plan would be to make buildings self sufficient as well. The technology that would allow your house to run would also be applied to buildings as well. Any structure would be able to install the means to generate power. (Assuming those who make such things can do so without being run out of business by the government imposing stupid rules and restrictions which started in committees that are controlled by those who make money off of... the grid! Amazing how this works isn't it?) Five: How does one make the current grid 'secure'? Because the only thing that I can see successfully doing this is the take over of the entire planet. (Oh yeah...domestic terrorists.. hmm.) Lastly: "That's not going to change."...

If you want a less corrupted, more equitable society, it had better.

[marble falls]

21. Crazily enough - there's more than one.

[LittleGirl]

24. Let me tell you this...

Now that our government has been hacked and monitored since March, we may never know who blew up a block in Nashville.

I would pay attention to odd things like this happening around the country, now that all of our infrastructure has been exposed.

Brace yourselves.

[oldsoftie]

32. And prepare yourself to live without power for some time.

Which we all really should do anyway.

[Hekate]

28. KnR

[MyMission]

30. Thank you for sharing this story

Which is very informative, and disturbing. I know which building in my town houses that equipment because there are several and one holds the machinery, I've been told. It's down the block from where I work.

The explosion seems like a test run for further mayhem and terrorism.
I think we need to be prepared for disruption of communication services. If this is their plan, before, during or after the inauguration, they can do a lot of damage. Hopefully this will alert law enforcement to monitor these facilities, but if they try this on a large scale some will be thwarted but some will hit the mark. Even if it was a lone actor, which I doubt, it will inspire others to repeat it, expand on it.

I find it interesting that Tennessee is the birthplace of the KKK. They or a comparable hate group have a foothold in all the states, according to a SPLC report and map I saw. The first thing I noticed was a major hate group was established in the center of every state, which gave them easier access for outreach throughout the state. There are other groups in each state, in larger areas. Until now, I never thought about how they could be mobilized to act. Not just a rag tag assortment of cult members, or a few odd group, but these hate groups capable of rallying troops, so to speak, to disrupt and destroy, present a huge threat. Of course we don't know and won't know for a while who was behind this, or why. Just speculating here

I also find it interesting that one of the blackwater criminals just released is from East Tennessee.
Not saying it was him, or friends of his celebrating with explosive devices. Just interesting.

[Sogo]

35. Although your points are well taken, I do wonder if

the infrastructure from many years ago in regards to telephone service is of the same significance today. It seems to me that pretty much everything in that area has switched to cellular and satellite based infrastructure.

Just sayin'....

[PCIntern]

38. Yes but as I said

Somewhere there are switches where it goes to ground.

[czarjak]

39. Terrorism 101: Go for the grid. Vlad's glad.

[nitpicker]

40. For military facilities, there are force protection calculations

That discuss how far a blast of one type or another could reach.

But in the commercial world, there are often limits on how much stand-off distance can be achieved.

[nilram]

43. Even if this was a lone wacko, he's publicized our vulnerability.

And that of probably many other countries around the world.

[OldBaldy1701E]

45. I think they already knew this

With all the dick waving that our elite and political power brokers do on a daily basis, it would not surprise me if there are nefarious people out there in the world who know who I am, which is scary in so many ways. (Mainly because I have no worth or position, so why would anyone care to know? But, when you are being fed information left and right from the very people whom you want to damage...)

[blogslut]

49. The RV terrorist's father worked for BellSouth

Maybe he picked up some knowledge from that

[Dem2]

50. I remember taking a class about communications infrastructure at AT&T

This was shortly after the breakup of Western Electric.

A lot has changed since then, but there are still choke-points in our infrastructure. It's not likely the buildings you think of from the old-days, but they exist. Thankfully, there are so many pinch points these days, it would take a massive effort to cut off communications enough to create the disruption the terrorists desire.