Blast with a past: Erie Bomb Squad marks 50 years of service to northwestern Pennsylvania
The Erie Bomb Squad has searched school buildings for evidence to back up a called-in threat.
They've fished grenades out of homes and a draining Crawford County lake, investigated suspected pipe bombs and suspicious packages that contained nothing more than Christmas decorations and soiled underwear, and scraped up bits of white powder.
They've also blown up vehicles containing animal carcasses for forensics students to study, and assembled beeping Easter eggs for visually-impaired children to hunt down.
The eight-member team, made up of Erie Bureau of Police officers with one representative each from the Erie County Sheriff's Office and the Millcreek Township Police Department, marked a half-century on the job in August. It's a notable achievement for a team that not only serves the city and surrounding county but covers a large portion of northwestern Pennsylvania, Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny said.
"It's a tremendous asset," Spizarny said. "It means that some calls can be handled in a matter of minutes rather than waiting hours or days for someone to come in from somewhere else. People don't realize the number of explosive devices located and recovered by them."
Answering the call
Formed in 1973, the Erie Bomb Squad covers Erie and 12 other counties. Its responsibilities include rendering safe any explosive device, investigating suspicious substances, disposing of recovered commercial explosives or military ordnance, investigating suspicious explosions or post-blast scenes, and providing VIP protection, particularly during presidential campaign visits. The team has additionally been called in for major events in the region, including the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh and Tall Ships Erie.
The squad also assists the Erie police SWAT Team and works closely with local fire and hazardous materials response teams as well as federal agencies including the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspectors and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The team responds to about 20 explosive device calls a year, as well as to requests for protective sweeps and to stand by at incidents, said Lt. David Hudson, the team's commander. Hudson has served on the team for more than 20 years and is the fourth commander of the team since its inception.
What makes the Bomb Squad unique is the level of training its members must undergo, said Tom Stankiewicz, a retired Erie police officer who served as squad commander for 11 years. According to Hudson, team members, who must also be hazmat technicians, are required to attend a six-week FBI hazardous devices school with 40 hours of recertification every three years and have 24 hours of monthly training within the department and 40 additional hours of training outside of the department.
"That training sort of forces you to interact with bomb technicians around the country and across the world, which is unlike most other division in the police department," Stankiewicz said. "I formed friendships during that time that continue today, 16 years after I was out of there."
Stankiewicz said the squad was equipped with new, state-of-the art equipment when he joined in the mid-1990s, although the vehicles they were donated 1970s trucks from the military and the robot they used was also donated form the military.
A new camera-mounted robot was added to the team in 2004, and that robot was recently replaced by a newer unit.
The team is also equipped with an x-ray unit that Hudson said replaced polaroid film the team was using when he joined in 2000, as well as advanced bomb suits that are lighter, more comfortable and more functional than their old suits.
Special responses
The Erie Bomb Squad has been involved in a few high-profile incidents over the years. They include the notorious "Pizza Bomber" case, when delivery driver Brian Wells was killed by an explosive device locked to his body; and an incident in Clarion County in 2003 in which an incendiary device was sent through the mail, an investigation which resulted in the suspect being sentenced to a federal prison term.
But the majority of the incidents the squad responds to are suspicious packages that turn out to be nothing, Hudson said.
Squad members over the years responded to a number of suspicious powder incidents, particularly in the early 2000s; walked through many school buildings and other facilities while investigating reported bomb threats; and recovered and examined military ordnance found by others.
In one incident from 2012, squad members were sent to Crawford County after Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission members removing dead fish from Tamarack Lake, which was being lowered, found a hand grenade near the lake's southern dam.
"Back then, there were a lot of World War II veterans who were getting up in age or dying, and their families were cleaning out houses and finding military ordnance they didn't know was live or not," Stankiewicz said of his early years on the squad.
Among the squad's more recent investigations involved more than a dozen suspected pipe bombs that were discovered after a person's death; the discovery of a large number of improvised hand grenades; and an explosion in the foyer of an Erie residence that was determined to have been caused by a firework, according to Hudson.
Beyond responding to and investigating incidents, squad members have been involved in training programs that have included forensic science classes with Mercyhurst University students in which vehicles containing animal carcasses were blown up to simulate a disaster.
"The training was unique, as most forensic people don't get to experience that," Stankiewicz said, noting that some of the classes had attendees who came from all over the world. "And for the bomb techs, it was good training for guys who normally don't go to training where there are parts all over the place."
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Bomb Squad marks 50 years of service to northwestern Pennsylvania
