Dynamite Disposal
A farmer south of Miller found some old dynamite on his farm. The dynamite was old and sweating nitroglycerin. The sherriff's office arranged for the disposal of the dynamite. They asked for the fire department to be present at the scene in case things went wrong.
The disposal took place on April 4, 2006, at 1200 hours. The ATF, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Hand County Sheriff, Hand County Emergency Management, Hand County Ambulance, and Miller Fire Department were all present. We responded with an engine, a brush truck, and a suburban with a total of seven firefighters.
The DCI guys moved the 25 pounds of old dynamite to the corner of a field, wired up two pounds of their own explosives, and detonated it. Big bang! I felt the shock wave on my chest from about 200 yards away. I wasn't able to get a picture of the detonation, but here are some pictures from the scene.
The dynamite was found in an old, collapsed shed. The red arrow shows where the dynamite was located.
Here is the DCI Bomb Squad truck.
Here is the bomb robot in the back of the truck.
The DCI and ATF agents prepping the dynamite for detonation.
Brush truck F8.
Here is the aftermath of the explosion. They managed to get the hole filled back in before I could get a picture. The hole was about 2.5 feet in diameter and about 14 inches deep. The explosion threw dirt clods about 30 yards in every direction.
