Pipe Bombs Dangerous but Popular Devices

A pipe bomb is nothing more than a piece of pipe, filled with explosives and capped at both ends, which like a hand grenade can send metal shrapnel flying hundreds of feet in all directions, depending on the quantity and strength of the explosives.

Like the 14 confiscated in Santa Ana on Wednesday, pipe bombs are the most common explosive devices used criminally in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. About 75% of the bombs disarmed or investigated each year by the Orange County sheriff’s bomb squad are pipe bombs.

“The explosive device used at the World Trade Center was nothing more than a very large car bomb, which is nothing more than a very large pipe bomb,” said Larry Cornelison, a group supervisor with ATF’s Arson Explosive Task Force. “But most people don’t make pipe bombs that they need a truck to carry.”

If a person is standing close to a pipe bomb when it explodes, the “blast wave” or concussion caused by the explosion creates pressures that can crush a person’s body “like a tin can,” Cornelison said.

The 14 Santa Ana pipe bombs, classified as “low explosives,” could have blown large holes in the home’s ceiling and walls if they had all detonated at once. The shrapnel could have injured or killed anyone walking by the house, and the explosion could have caused a serious fire, Cornelison said.

“I’ve worked at pipe bomb situations where, 300 yards away, the shrapnel could have hurt or killed a person,” Cornelison said.

Last year, pipe bombs were discovered in Orange County everywhere from the undersides of cars in Irvine and Lake Forest to a high school’s outdoor lunch area in Orange.

In one of the worst pipe bombings in Southern California, one that contained 15 pounds of explosives blew up in a locker at Los Angeles International Airport in 1974, killing three people and injuring 36 others.

Disarming Bombs

Pipe bombs make up about 75% of the hazardous devices disarmed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad. So far this year, 45 bombs have been disarmed and 20 explosions have been investigated.

* Description: Pipe bombs can be made any size with any pipe filled with explosives. When exploded, some fragments have a velocity greater than a bullet.

* Destruction: Depending on the size and distance of the explosion, fragments can kill or maim.

* Purpose: Most pipe bombs are not randomly used. Revenge on a specific target is the primary motive.

* Sightings: Any suspicious container or pipe should be reported immediately to police or by calling 911. Do not handle a suspected pipe bomb.

* Disarming: The sheriff’s bomb squad uses at least two technicians to disarm a pipe bomb, almost always at the location it is found. Bombs may take several hours to disarm, depending on sophistication and the number found.

Bombs disarmed

1992: 83

Explosion investigations

1992: 32

Sources: Arson Explosive Task Force of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Orange County Sheriff’s Hazardous Devices Unit; Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE / Los Angeles Times