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Hunt goes Honolulu police and Army units continued searching Wahiawa roadways and storm drains this morning for what they described as an "extremely volatile" explosive device that was lost yesterday during a military training exercise for bomb-sniffing dogs.
on for bomb
The flare-like device lost
during a training exercise at
Schofield is 'extremely volatile'By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com"Any temperature change and this device could go off," said Col. Arnaldo Claudio, U.S. Army, Hawaii provost marshal. The device does not have its own detonator but also can be set off by friction or impact, officials said.
"We will not stop searching for it until we satisfy ourselves and there is no danger to the public," Claudio said.
Military officials said the device looks like a yellow flare, about 9 inches long and one-half inch in diameter with the words "Dyno Nobel" written on the side. It had been placed in the undercarriage of a vehicle on Schofield Barracks as part of the exercise but a civilian drove off base unaware that the device was attached to the car.
Military police searched the vehicle after locating it in Wahiawa, but the device was gone, leading officials to believe it may have fallen along the roadway.
Last night, about 175 members of the military were involved in the search along with an undisclosed number of police bomb technicians, Specialized Services Division members, police canine units and Wahiawa patrol officers. The searched resume this morning with HPD bicycle patrol units joining the effort.
Police said anyone who finds the device should call 911.
"Don't touch it, don't look at it, just leave it alone and call us immediately. We're taking this very seriously," Assistant Chief Boisse Correa said last night.
Police said the device has a safe zone of 300 feet. Trainers usually hide the devices somewhere on base and then have the dogs sniff them out.
Yesterday, the device was hidden between the tailpipe and the rear axle of a car at the Schofield vehicle impound lot.
Unfortunately, Claudio said, out of the 280 cars at the impound, the owner of the car under which the device was hidden arrived and drove away.
"Murphy's law comes in here," said Claudio.
Army officials were able to locate the driver by cell phone and have him pull over at a gas station along California Avenue, but the device was no longer on the car.
Army officials said the device was reported missing from the training site about 1:15 p.m. yesterday.
Correa said the car took a route that included Kunia Road, Wilikina Drive, Kamehameha Highway, California Avenue and North Cane Road.
Army officials said they began patrolling the Wahiawa area immediately after it was reported missing.
"We'll be out here as long as it takes to find it," said Correa.
Star-Bulletin reporter Nelson Daranciang and the Associated Press contributed to this report.