N.Y. First Responders Get Crash Course in Explosives
Sept. 22--GASPORT -- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' New York field division continued an explosives training exercise for first responders Wednesday at the Gasport quarry.
The three-day training course is designed to show first responders how to recover evidence at a blast scene, determine the type of device used and identify the suspect.
The course was planned well in advance of the recent bombings in New York City and New Jersey, according to ATF spokesman Matthew Myerson. The bureau routinely hosts annual or semi-annual training sessions for first responders, because the explosives field is ever changing.
"This was not precipitated by last weekend's events," Myerson said. "I think those events are the exclamation point for why we do it, because you never know when something like that is going to happen."
Demand for explosives training has increased around the United States and worldwide, according to Gerry O'Sullivan, special agent bomb technician.
"We are very busy providing agencies with this type of training. We do it all over the world, in various countries," he said. "The demand is there and, based on current events, there will probably be more demand."
When ATF is called to investigate bombs, most times, homemade bombs are involved, O'Sullivan said. That's because commercial and military explosives are more regulated and harder to get these days. The makers need only turn to the internet to learn how to create a pipe bomb.
"The internet is not our friend when it comes to making homemade stuff, but we have to deal with it," O'Sullivan said. "That's what we're teaching a lot of these students, is homemade explosive components and precursive chemicals."
"Students" in the current training course are 25 first responders from as far away as Rochester.
On Tuesday, students were given background information on commercial and homemade explosives, then they went through two "table top" exercises. At one table, inert devices were broken down into component parts so students could see specific parts that might be used in an explosive device. At another table, components involved in an explosion were shown and students were directed to pull out the parts and try to figure out how the device worked.
On Wednesday, the students observed a series of live explosions at the quarry, to get an idea of the different effects created by different explosives -- and see the damage that even small amounts of commercial explosives can do.
Today, after a lecture about the forensic work that is done in labs after evidence is gathered by first responders, the students will return to the blast site to process the scene, recover items and identify the type of explosive used.
"It's about building their confidence so that they know that they can come in as a first responder and help in the scene processing, identify what evidence is relevant and what might not be," Myerson said. "Hopefully we get a quicker, more thorough result because of it."
Contact reporter Rachel Fuerschbach at 439-9222, ext. 6246.
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