Explosives Disposal Snarls Freeway, Forces Evacuation

The Pomona Freeway in Glen Avon was shut down for two hours Tuesday, snarling traffic for miles in both directions, while a Riverside County sheriff’s bomb unit destroyed unstable explosives at a police-dog training facility nearby.

During an annual inspection Monday, hazardous-material specialists with the Sheriff’s Department discovered about 60 pounds of unstable dynamite and other explosives at Adlerhorst International Inc., a 7-acre police K-9 academy in Glen Avon, said Sgt. Earl Quinata. The explosives were used to train bomb-sniffing dogs.

Five pounds of explosives in a weapons bunker were so unstable that police could not risk moving it. The material was within 100 feet of the Pomona Freeway -- and close to several houses that could have been damaged if the materials exploded, Quinata said.

Hazardous-material specialists decided to burn the explosives in place Tuesday morning, but first had to close a one-mile stretch of the freeway and evacuate nearby residents. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the freeway was closed between Pedley and Pyrite roads.

Roughly 15 pounds of explosives were removed from the property Monday and will be detonated at an undisclosed location. Another 40 pounds required quick disposal, so police detonated it in deep holes on Adlerhorst’s property late Monday night.

Quinata said the department was investigating whether criminal charges or civil claims should be filed against Adlerhorst owner Dave Reaver.

Reaver trains German shepherds and Belgian malinois dogs for police departments throughout the Western United States, and for the U.S. Border Patrol. Dogs receive about six weeks of training, specializing in areas such as patrol, drug or bomb detection, or search and rescue.

Reaver disputes the amount of explosives police said they dealt with on his property, but said he was grateful for the quick action.

“I’m certainly not questioning what they said; I just didn’t think there was that much in there,” he said.

“They did an excellent job. It makes me feel safer that I live in a county where they have these type of resources to take care of things they way they did.”