Subject: (Humboldt County) Sheriff's Office Responds to Reported Pipe Bomb
Contact: Brenda Godsey, PIO
Case No#: 201008050
Released By: Brenda Godsey
Location: McKinleyville
Shortly before 1:30 this afternoon Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a reported pipe bomb near the Hammond Trail at Kelly Avenue and Murray Road. A concerned citizen reported that a man placed the suspicious object at a picnic table and left. Sheriff’s deputies, including members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit, responded to the location. The pipe was black PVC and capped at both ends, consistent with the appearance of a pipe bomb. An EOD Deputy donned a blast resistant Bomb Suit and approached the pipe. The deputy evaluated the pipe and determined it was not an explosive device. Further investigation revealed the pipe was placed there as part of the GPS treasure hunting game Geocaching.
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Thanks to my brother Tom for alerting me to this incident. As many of my readers know, my wife and I love to geocache. It is one of the few outdoor activities we can agree on without any discussion. We took a few months off from it during my city council campaign and hope to return to it just as soon the rain lets up.
If you would like to learn more about geocaching, go to http://www.geocaching.com/. And if you live in the OC area and would like to try geocaching with us, please email me. It is great fun for ALL ages!
As a word of cautionary advice for my fellow cachers, it my be a good idea to contact your local PD or sheriff's office and spend a few minutes educating them on geocaching and what common caches look like. Let's not put first responders through unnecessary drills that are very expensive and turn their attention away from real emergencies.
Other geocache bomb scares are bookmarked at:
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Thanks for the link!
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