The Countdown Begins...

A Bank of America employee misinterpreted a faulty fax about a bank promotion as a bomb threat Wednesday, leading authorities to evacuate more than a dozen neighboring businesses.

The fax from a marketing group sending information about a Bank of American small business promotion contained images of a lighted match and a bomb with a fuse, bank spokesman Ernesto Anguilla said.

But words explaining the promotion did not transmit. "The fax machine malfunctioned, so a partial image came through that looked somewhat suspicious," Anguilla said.

The bank's Ashland branch manager called police about 10 a.m. after receiving the fax. Fears also arose because the branch received a suspicious package delivered by a customer around the same time, police said.