Several Explosives Found in Huntington Harbor (OC, CA)

KFI news AM 640 Los Angeles | 1/11/06 | KFI news AM 640 Los Angeles

[Yaelle]

I just heard this on the news. They did say several explosives have been found in Huntington Harbor. For those that don't know the location in Orange County, CA, I will say that it's very close to a large Naval Base.

Anyone heard anything more? I googled it and found no info.

[Rebelbase]

Besides holding one between your fingers and detonating it with a battery the most dangerous thing about blasting caps as toys is the shrapnel created when it's aluminum case explodes.

Some good old boy contractors I know were dangling them off the porch and blowing them up one New Year's Eve and one guy got cut just below the eye with a piece of metal from a cap that didn't make it below the porch before they touched it off.

[bd476]

Ping.

[Riley]

Besides holding one between your fingers and detonating it with a battery the most dangerous thing about blasting caps as toys is the shrapnel created when it's aluminum case explodes.

I had an instructor throw one (in the form of a grenade fuse) at me at Combat Engineer school. I was standing under a tree eating something disgusting out of a green tin can. The ground was sandy, so I just put my boot on the thing and continued eating. *pop*. :-)

[HHKrepublican_2]

I remember bombs being diffused in a CA starbucks yesterday.

[Calpernia]

LOL! I was thinking forgot bait myself :)

[TheDon]

The first thing I thought was that someone was going "fishing", or had just disposed of them by throwing them in the water.

[Yaelle]

Here's more about it from KABC:

Reportedly, the explosives are not dangerous enough to blow up yachts or homes.

"They are commercial-grade blasting caps used to cause explosions like for mines and things like that," Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department told reporters. "The situation is very serious. They are concussion-type explosive devices, as opposed to fragmentation type.

"This was our concern, (that) they were attached to a bigger explosive device. There's probably six to eight or more out there.

"They are very unstable in salt water. They do pose a threat to the divers, any swimmers, any boaters in the area," Amormino said.

"We want to know how they got here, how many of them are out there,"

[Yaelle]

I am down there all the time and there is nearly always a big ship there.

[Riley]

Maybe. Seems like an awfully conspicuous location for fishing with kaboomite, though.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd venture that someone had them lying around for years, and figured the least troublesome way to get rid of them was to chuck them in the harbor.

[R. Scott]

Hopefully it’s nothing – our “esteemed” news media has been known to refer to firecrackers as “explosives”.

[Riley]

"They are very unstable in salt water. They do pose a threat to the divers, any swimmers, any boaters in the area," Amormino said.

It just amazes me to hear stuff like this. If you were sailing a little 19' sloop right over six blasting caps in 10-12' feet of water, and they all went off simultaneously, odds are you wouldn't even know it. Sheesh. It would be unpleasant to be in the water swimming or diving near them if they popped, but only because of the way noise propagates in water.

[R. Scott]

Eight law enforcement agencies responded to the finding of two blasting caps! Why not just call the Navy and have them police up their trash?

[johnny7]

Haven't heard anything on the radio about the CA explosives up here in MA. The big news is that Kennedy went ballistic at the Alito hearings.

[Carling]

Robert Byrd admittedly recruited for the KKK and no one in hte media cares now or cared when he was Majority leader.

[Riley]

Either it's a slow day there, or they have no idea what blasting caps are.

[JustPiper]

If you find out anything further Gal, please post at TM, I posted a thread concerning this
~thanks!

[R. Scott]

I’d say they have no idea what blasting caps are.

[cgk]

PING

[cgk]

From KCAL channel 9's website:

Explosives Found In Huntington Beach Harbour

Email It

(CBS) HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. Divers worked Wednesday to remove blasting caps found in Huntington Harbour, and authorities were still trying to determine how the explosive devices got there in the first place.

The caps are "very unstable in salt water," Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department told reporters.

Officials said a diver hired by the Huntington Harbour Association discovered two blasting caps yesterday in about 10 feet of water near Bonaire Circle. "They called us and asked for assistance," Huntington Beach police Sgt. Herb Cuadras said.

Eight law enforcement agencies responded to the scene Wednesday morning to remove the explosives. Investigators said they believe there about six to eight of the devices in the area, and the salt water or cellular phone signals could set them off.

Bomb experts told reporters the explosives are not dangerous enough to blow up yachts or homes.

"They are commercial-grade blasting caps used to cause explosions like for mines and things like that," Amormino said. "The situation is very serious.

They are concussion-type explosive devices, as opposed to fragmentation type.

"This was our concern, (that) they were attached to a bigger explosive device. They are very unstable in salt water. They do pose a threat to the divers, any swimmers, any boaters in the area," Amormino said.

"We want to know how they got here, how many of them are out there," Amormino said.

[cgk]

Dang, missed the link, SORRY...:

VIDEO AVAILABLE HERE:
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_011154006.html