250 vintage ordnance blown up

A bomb disposal team composed of U.S. Navy experts, local police, and a private company detonated yesterday some 250 pieces of unexploded World War II-era ordnance in Marpi.

The vintage ordnance—projectiles, bombs, hand grenades and mortar rounds from both the U.S. and Japanese sides—were removed from an explosive storage bunker in Marpi, placed in a pit near the bunker, connected to demolition charges, covered with soil, and then detonated using a remote firing device.

The explosive ordnance team members, led by Lt. Erich Gurges of the U.S. Navy, first initiated an explosion to scare the birds in the area, then detonated the ordnance from a safe distance in Suicide Cliff.

Prior to this, police officers and firefighters blocked all roads leading to the detonation site.

U.S Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Second Class Jeff Black said they had to make sure that everyone evacuate the area before demolishing the ordnance.

Black said it is extremely important to detonate these ordnance to keep the public safe.

“It keeps the average residents of Saipan from accidentally detonating one of these in their backyards or any public place,” he said.

John Scott, explosive response team trainer and adviser for the Department of Public Safety, said if people find a piece of ordnance they should just note where it is, call 911 and let the trained bomb technicians from DPS come and get it. “Don’t try to handle it and definitely keep it away from fire,” Scott said.

He said the demolition operation usually runs three to five times a year. “It depends on how much stuff we have accumulated,” Scott said.

He said in the coming year they expect to do more detonation operation because of some ongoing projects on the island.

“And of course people continue to report ordnance to police department,” Scott said.

He said the detonation time schedule was changed yesterday because of an airline flight schedule at that time.

“Like every other operation, you have to consider a lot of factors—tourist needs, aircraft schedules. We don’t blow things up if there is going to be an aircraft nearby,” he said.

In yesterday’s case, Scott said, an afternoon flight was too close to the original detonation schedule of 1pm.

“So the airport asked us to move it up and we did. We adjusted so there won’t be a conflict between flight operation and disposal operation,” he said.