On Friday, December 12, 2008, Oregon State Police Senior Trooper/Bomb Technician Bill Hakim and Woodburn, Oregon, police Captain Tom Tennant were killed when an explosive device they were handling detonated inside a bank in Woodburn, Oregon.  Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell was critically injured. What happened in Woodburn could happen anywhere.

Woodburn, Oregon, has a population of about 22,000 people.  It is between Portland and Salem on Interstate 5.

The most reliable information so far about what happened in the Woodburn blast is in the Statement of Probable Cause offered by the Marion County Sheriff’s Department.  That has been distilled into a December 16, 2008, online news article headlined Police call Woodburn bank bombing a father-son job by The Oregonian staff writers Helen Jung, Stephen Beaven, Maxine Bernstein and Aimee Green. 

As so often the case, the news media have sought out “experts” to analyze and opine on the information available publicly thus far.   Readers should understand those opinions are only that, and they are based on the limited public information available. The post-blast investigation and device reconstruction is still underway.  There is still insufficient public information available to critique the performance of the bomb technicians.  Once the investigation has been completed, any lessons learned will be provided to the civilian bomb technician and military explosive ordnance disposal communities.

It is not too early, though, for all public safety first-responders to be reminded that their community, no matter how large or small, no matter how remote its location, is not immune from people who are willing to use hazardous devices to achieve whatever it is they are after.  Suspicious package calls must be taken seriously.  

The Hazardous Devices School is the only formal certification program in the United States where state and local bomb technicians learn to locate, identify, render safe, and dispose of improvised explosive devices, as well as learn to use specialized equipment and protective clothing needed for the safe disposal of explosive materials.  The Hazardous Devices School has been in operation at Redstone since 1971. The school is administered by the FBI and operated by the U.S. Army.

The photo that leads this post is the statue in front of the Hazardous Devices School Memorial in Huntsville, Alabama. 

Sadly, now another name will be added to the Memorial.

*Isaiah 6:8 – Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”