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Nearly 1,200 lbs of WWII explosives blown up
Nearly 1,200 lbs of World War II ordnance were detonated last Friday at the Laderan Lagun cliff line in Marpi.
The detonation was done by the U.S Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment from Guam, with assistance from the CNMI Explosives Response Team led by incident commander Capt. Pete Leon Guerrero, CNMI Homeland Security, Department of Public Safety police officers, and firefighters.
Nearly 1,200 lbs of World War II ordnance was detonated last Friday at the Laderan Lagun cliff line in Marpi. (JAYSON CAMACHO)
This was followed by the major shot—the detonation of ordnance with close to a total weight of 1,200 lbs.
The detonation set off a thunderclap, rebounding along the cliff walls and sending a huge mushroom-shaped cloud over the cliff line and walls into the air, nearly a mile north of the Marpi landfill.
The U.S Navy EOD team asked Juan Ogarto to detonate the birdshot while the major shot detonation was done by Gerald Guerrero of the CNMI Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Ogarto said it felt exciting to experience the detonation. Ogarto and Guerrero were ordered to shout, “Fire in the hole!” three times before the two detonations were executed.
According to Leon Guerrero, the pit can only hold up to 1,200 lbs of dead explosive weight and that unexploded ordnance collected will be counter-charged by C4s to render it safe.
DPS closed the Marpi area from 12pm to 3pm, after the U.S Navy EOD’s officer-in-charge Lt. Dhruv Parashar and Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal’s Ryan Gilfillan, along with other two U.S Navy EODs, went to confirm and check if it was safe.
Leon Guerrero said that once they have collected World War II ordnance of 600 lbs or more, they ask the Office of the Governor to communicate with the military in Guam.
“Everything we do down here is safe and we handle a lot of explosives,” said Leon Guerrero. “We invited Gov. Eloy S. Inos but he was busy and he apologized.”
He said his team collects unexploded ordnances.
“If you find or discover any unexploded ordnance, don’t touch it. Give us a call or dial 911,” Leon Guerrero said.
He said his team will go and pick it up, transport it to the bunker in Marpi, and lock it up.
