The Michigan Daily-Thursday,;May21, 1981-Page 5 Wave of phony bomb threats plagues N.Y.C. Daily Photo by JACKIE BELL. Out- to lunch THE FAST-FOOD craze has filtered down to even the canine community. Resident pooch Cicco-Poppu "deserved a break today" yesterday at his post outside Maison Edwards in the Nickels Arcade. " " Wind-whipped forest ire contain.ed i nort ern Mi ig an GAYLORD (UPI) - Hundreds of firefighters contained a wind-whipped forest fire late yesterday that raged through dry northern lower Michigan jackpine and forced some residents to flee their homes. But efforts were to continue through last night to prevent the fire from spreading anew this morning. THE FIRE in southeastern Otsego and western Montmorency counties was one of at least 10 wind-whipped blazes, most small, that broke out in tinderbox-like forest deprived of rain for nearly two weeks. A state fire captain said the major blaze may have been deliberately set. "It's contained right now, but we don't know what's going to happen," said Chuck Rich of the state Depar- tment of Natural Resources Gaylord of- fice. "We're going to have to work all night." THERE WERE NO immediate reports of injuries and the fires did not immediately threaten populated com- munities, said Bill Mittig, a DNR forester. But the Montmorency County Sheriff's Department began evacuating some residents from the western part of the county as the fire approached. Deputies were not immediately sure how many persons were forced to flee. Much of the land burning was state forest, Mittig said, although some private land has been hit. There were no confirmed reports of property damage and the nearest community was West Twin Lakes, near Lewiston some distance away in southwestern Montmorency County. STATE POLICE at Gaylord said they and officers from the Otsego County Sheriff's Department blocked off some roads to keep people from straying into the areas.. By about 9:45 p.m., all the fires ap- peared contained. The major blaze.had consumed some 2;000 acres of forest. "It's a bad fire," said Ron Schmoke, also of the DNR. "And we don't know where it's gonna go if we don't get a good liandle on it." THE FIRE was a "crown fire," Mit- tig said, the type of blaze that jumps from treetop to treetop and hampers firefighting efforts. "The crown fire establishes its own wind, so it's very difficult to put it out," Mittig said. More than 250 firefighting personnel from the DNR and surrounding com- munities were battling the big blaze, aided by dozens of pieces of equipment sent from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and southern lower Michigan. 4W"r Ths space contributed by the pubiishe5 From AP and UPI NEW YORK - A deluge of phony bomb threats inspired by a fatal terrorist blast at Kennedy Airport kept police on the run again yesterday in New York, where thousands of people have been routed from their offices by hoaxes. Since a worker was killed in a restroom explosion Saturday, New York police have been called to check out 475 reports of planted bombs, in- cluding at least 149 such calls yester- - day. Ina few cases earlier this week, an elite 24-member bomb squad was called to remove a suspicious object. The only authentic report of ex- plosives since Monday was the discovery of two live, World War II vin- tage shells by workers dredging the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge. Police said it was mere coincidence the shells were found during the wave of bomb scares and that the incidents were not related. On Monday pipe bombs turned up in the morning mail at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and at the Honduran consulate. The drain on the police department prompted an appeal yesterday from Police Commissioner Robert McGuire for the fake calls to stop. "We call on all responsible people in the city not to do it," McGuire said. "Whether it's kids or the parents, it's using up patrol time." Detectives say they believe most of the unfounded scares are not the work of the terrorists but of "kooks," such as workers seeking longer coffee breaks and lunch hours. Police Officer Joseih McConville of the department's'public information staff, said, "Lunch time, a ' nice day - everyone wants out," referring to the 70-degree weather out- side. Authorities said some of the calls FEATURIN DICK SIE were from sincerely frightened people who spotted unattended suitcases, can- vas bags and strange-looking packages containing items such as clocks and even a foil-wrapped stale sandwich. In one case, someone left a "hoax bomb," several railroad flares tied together with wire. "Somebody's sick idea of a joke," said Detective Peter Perotta of the bomb squad. One anonymous caller said a "neutron bomb" was in City Hall. McGuire on Tuesday characterized the rash of calls as a "full moon type of reaction" following the discovery of five genuine explosive devices. He said yesterday "we have some evidence we're following up" in the investigation of the real bombs. The obscure Puerto Rican Armed Resistance Movement claimed respon- sibility for three airport bombs. Police believe the group is a splinter of the FALN, a Puerto Rican terrorist organization believed to have planted more than 120 bombs across the coun- try._ In the past few days, Perotta said, he and his colleagues have checked "anything and everything." "In a climate like this, with bombs and threats, everyone's paranoid," he said. "A guy leaves his attache case to go to the men's room and people think it's a bomb." Mayor Edward Koch said Tuesday those responsible for the bombs and scares were "scum" who should be executed.