LIFE’S A BLAST

Most years, the bomb squad at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is as busy as the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff’s departments combined. The squad’s seven staff members and two dogs handle close to three calls a day. The team provides Orange County’s 29 cities with complete combustible care. But does Orange County fit the profile of a place in need of an elite force of fuse-snuffers?

According to Lt. George Johnson, bomb squad manager, the average bomb-builder fits right in with Orange County demographics. “Playing with bombs is not a ghetto crime,” he notes. “Generally, bomb-builders are white males in their early 20s with an above-average education. Building a bomb requires a little foresight, a little planning, a little knowledge and a little more sophistication than, say, committing a crime with a gun.”

If January is indicative of the 1990 trend, the team will have to expand its staff. In the first seven days of the new year, nine bombings were investigated. And since 1987, calls have increased each year.

Aside from investigating bomb explosions, the squad disposes of dangerous, unstable chemicals that often turn up in high school chemistry labs. And while not every call uncovers a bomb in a briefcase, ultimate care is used to handle each situation. “Right now, my people still have all their fingers and toes,” Johnson says. “We’d like to keep it that way.”

Here’s a look at bomb-squad activity during the last five years:

Total Bomb Number Bombs Explosions of Total Year Disarmed Investigated Disposals Calls 1989 102 36 358 943 1988 63 35 304 805 1987 53 29 275 667 1986 54 37 258 682 1985 57 32 169 559 FIVE YEAR TOTAL 329 169 1,364 3,656

Source: Orange County Sheriff’s Department