THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409030492
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Teenagers in Chesapeake have been mixing household chemicals to make small but potentially dangerous bombs, the Fire Department warned Friday.
``We're constantly finding the remains of different explosive devices in different locations,'' said Fire Investigator Greg Orfield. There has been a rash of homemade-bomb explosions, he said.
Officials have conducted more than a dozen investigations in the past two weeks, Orfield said. One arrest was made, and several others are pending, he said. The charge for making or possessing an explosive device is a Class 5 felony; violators can face up to 10 years in prison.
No injuries have been reported, Orfield said, but some mailboxes have been damaged.
The number of cases is ``much worse than usual,'' he said, adding that every year there is a handful of investigations involving homemade bombs made by teenagers.
``But now it's getting to the point where someone's going to get hurt if they don't stop,'' he said.
The bombs are made mostly by a mix of household chemical cleaners and contained in a metal, plastic or glass container as simple as a soft drink bottle, he said.
The homemade bombs sound like the blast of a shotgun and can blow off a finger, Orfield said. Acid can spray up to 50 feet and burn the skin or cause serious eye injuries.
He said recent articles in various magazines, containing recipes for homemade explosives, may have spurred the activity. Information on how to make the bombs also has been posted on computer bulletin boards, Orfield said.
The bomb-building appears most prevalent in Western Branch, police said. But it also exists in Great Bridge, and a state bomb squad was recently called to remove a bomb found on a street in the Brentwood neighborhood of Deep Creek.
KEYWORDS: BOMB by CNB