Bomb Squad Burns Down Home

[FinnAmerican]

Bomb squad to deliberately burn down fire-damaged Connecticut home after finding enormous trove of fireworks inside.

A fire-damaged suburban Connecticut home that firefighters found filled with dangerous fireworks is set to be burned down Thursday after officials decided that was the best way to dispose of the explosives.

Officials opted to set the Bruce Drive home ablaze and let the haul of commercial-grade fireworks explode during a “controlled burn” after a “significant” amount of the devices was found in the garage and reportedly wired to a control panel during a fire Saturday.

Deputy Police Chief Kevin Stratton told the Shelton Herald that it was just easier to burn the home and let the fireworks go off, especially since authorities are not sure exactly how much explosive material is inside.

[displayfireworks1]

From the news report , it sounds like the ATF approved this. Most unusual . You can't trust these news reporters correctly define what was in that house. If anyone can find pictures of what was in that house please post them. Better yet , to get the address of this house and find it on Google Maps. Maybe it needed burned down anyway.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XQdtSOF3VE

[Arclight]

From the news report , it sounds like the ATF approved this. Most unusual . You can't trust these news reporters correctly define what was in that house. If anyone can find pictures of what was in that house please post them. Better yet , to get the address of this house and find it on Google Maps. Maybe it needed burned down anyway.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XQdtSOF3VE

They did this near San Diego a few years ago. But that guy had YEARS worth of waste, residue and homemade explosives lying all over the property. So I'd say that one was a little more understandable:

https://www.sdsheriff.gov/bureaus/media-relations/common-questions/escondido-bomb-house-case

[jamisonlm3]

So, they found a legit explosive that was very sensitive to heat and decied they'd just burn the whole house down?

[KDirk]

That strikes me as an over the top "solution", unless there was either something so unstable it couldn't be safely removed, or the entire structure was contaminated beyond any chance of economical remediation.

We had a situation many years ago here locally in which some lady whose dad was (or had been, I can't remember now) a chemist, was driving around in his car for a week with a canister of mercury fulminate rolling around in the trunk. At some point she must have realized it was bad stuff, because the bomb squad was then called out to retrieve it from the car, and used a detonation containment vessel to blow it up. Made the news here at the time.

[BMoore]

One place said commercial grade and another said illegal consumer fireworks. I'm guessing it was the latter. Might make sense if the house was already a total loss. I have to wonder if the original fire even had anything to do with the fireworks if there was that much left to dispose of after the fact.

[displayfireworks1]

I still want to see a picture of what exactly they saw to determine they had to burn the house down. From other video I saw of the fire it appeared to be Consumer Fireworks burning. I'm surprised the ATF went along with this. In addition in some of the videos I found the fireman are in close proximity to fire. If what the found was 1.3 or something else it would most likely mass detonate and no one would allowed close to the fire. On the surface it seems like an over reaction. If anyone finds pictures of what was in that garage and/or home, please post them.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14hQQKyxTVQ
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So much for Fox Weather accuracy on this report. It looks like the same house to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OguPG7Qf_10
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What type of fire does this look like? Look how close the fireman are.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SovZHT9n3Aw


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I just noticed is that a placard on the guys black trailer..


The house in better days. Seems like so unnecessary
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.298437,-73.0754108,3a,75y,138.68h,92.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5CS_fu16I3ywrLxzpe_1Qw!2e0!7i1 3312!8i6656?coh=205409&entry=ttu

[displayfireworks1]

From the Shelton Herald
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copy/paste
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“The state police bomb squad, after consulting with the ATF, determined it was best to perform a controlled burn,” Stratton said.

He added that the fireworks were in the garage and were wired to a control panel.

City fire officials plan to evacuate several homes on Bruce Drive Thursday as firefighters burn the house down.

There were no injuries in the blaze, but the damage to the house displaced a family of three and their dog. Fire officials have since deemed the home uninhabitable.

[jamisonlm3]

[SIZE=4]I just noticed is that a placard on the guys black trailer..
You noticed that too? You can see a rack with what looks like candles in one video.


From the Shelton Herald
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copy/paste
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“The state police bomb squad, after consulting with the ATF, determined it was best to perform a controlled burn,” Stratton said.

He added that the fireworks were in the garage and were wired to a control panel.Poor guy was probably just getting ready for the 4th. They basically turned his garage into a burn pit.

[BMoore]

I think the part a lot of you are missing is that the house had already burned. Apparently it was stuck by lightning and in the course of battling that fire the fireworks were discovered. It’s not like they blew up a perfectly good house. What I’d like to know is the condition of the house and was it salvageable. If the structure was beyond saving and too structurally unsound to remove the fireworks then maybe this makes some sense. The videos look like the house is in good shape but that could be very misleading. A fire from a lightning strike can start in the walls and gut a house from the inside out.

[Arclight]

I think the part a lot of you are missing is that the house had already burned. Apparently it was stuck by lightning and in the course of battling that fire the fireworks were discovered. It’s not like they blew up a perfectly good house. What I’d like to know is the condition of the house and was it salvageable. If the structure was beyond saving and too structurally unsound to remove the fireworks then maybe this makes some sense. The videos look like the house is in good shape but that could be very misleading. A fire from a lightning strike can start in the walls and gut a house from the inside out.

Blowing up a perfectly good house would be Holladay, Utah:

https://www.firehouse.com/operations-training/video/55021365/antient-dynamite-detonated-in-holladay-ut-house

[displayfireworks1]

The more I look at this event , I am feeling like it originated from an electric match in the pre-event and the reported "Lightening " strike at the home. From what I am reading this home had a random lightening strike and during the course of that, the fire department visit for the lightening strike at the home, they discover this person is pre-wiring fireworks to a "Control Panel" in his garage. Somehow these pre-wired fireworks are determined to be unstable to move and/or the home is damaged to such as degree , they just burn the place down. It also looks like legal charges are pending. Further who is going to compensate for the now destroyed home. I am not an insurance expert but usually insurance companies will not cover you if involved in a illegal situation.
On a side note I know many fireworks enthusiast get the July 4th fever and want to wire up there displays in advance , maybe too far in advance . This event shows the risk involved.

[Jay_]

It is just beyond me why they didn’t just soak them.

I mean..the fire trucks were already there.

I can see the structure being unstable after the fire, and then not wanting to go in there to drag them out. But how would, how could the fireworks be considered unstable if soaked with water?

I feel like there has to be more to the story than has been reported. If not, this is one of the silliest things that I have ever seen. If the guy had stuff that he shouldn’t have, well shame on him. If it’s simply just consumer stuff, then this is beyond ridiculous.

On a side note, yes…I have always feared lightning and what could potentially happen.

[Arclight]

What it comes down to is that fire departments and police bomb squads don't know anything about fireworks but also are afraid to go get help. Given how the display fireworks industry works, I think you could call up any local pyro company outside of July 4th month and they would be happy to send an experienced tech out on a day rate and also quote disposal. The fact that public agencies NEVER do this speaks to a lack of training as well as organizational culture.

They would have no problem calling a contractor in to remove bees or operate a crane. But when it comes to "explosives," they are total control freaks.