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Chief Dave Lain and
Lieutenant Chris Eckert
check out some of
the fire works that were destroyed
Valparaiso Fire
Department
Looks on for safety
Valparaiso Fire
Fighter Chad Dutz
Chief Dave Lain and Lieutenant Chris Eckert
The Porter County Sheriff's Department bomb Team was called by
the
Portage police last month to alert them to a cache of illegal
fireworks they
discovered. Portage police made a traffic arrest and after
interviewing
the driver, found 96,000 explosive devices in a self-storage
unit.
Each had the explosive force potential of a 1/4 stick of
dynamite.
If detonated together, the results would be catastrophic.
The Bomb Team, consisting of Sgt. Bill Garner, Sgt. Charles
Douthett,
Lt. Chris Eckert and Ptrl. Joe Falatic safely moved the
explosives
to a storage bunker and contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives to assist with the destruction.
Each device had
to be unwrapped and soaked in fuel oil for several hours so
that it
would not detonate. Then, under the watchful eye of the
Valparaiso Fire Department Eleven 55 Gallon drums of the
soaked explosives were systematically burned over a period of two
days.
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