Bail set at $500K for alleged Germantown bombmaker

A Germantown artist who lost part of his right hand in an explosion at his West Queen Lane home last Wednesday was arraigned Tuesday.

Bail for Douglas Ferrin, the 54-year-old who previously pleaded guilty in connection to a St. Patrick’s Day 2011 incident involving an explosion in a Phoenixville bar, was set at $500,000, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Charged with weapons of mass destruction, risking catastrophe and other offenses, Ferrin’s next court appearance is scheduled for May 29.

Ferrin’s neighbor Kaniyah Nickson, told NewsWorks that Wednesday’s incident was not the first instance of neighbors hearing explosions in the area.

She also described the scene.

“The other morning, we heard a loud boom, and then screaming,” Nickson said of the 4:05 a.m. Wednesday explosion that brought police, medics and the bomb squad to her block. “When they were taking him to the ambulance, he was screaming ‘I blew my fingers off.'”