Bomb Squad
Back in the day, when we had a bomb call, the response team came from either Mountain Home or Tooele Utah. The military phased out of the domestic bomb business (unless it’s a known military device) and Home Land Security (through the FBI) set up regional teams. The IFPD was selected for Eastern Idaho in 2007 and we were joined by the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office a few years later.
We received accreditation from the FBI and Bomb Data Center in Sept. 2009. On average we respond to about 20-30 non-military hazardous explosive calls a year. A majority of calls are in the summer.
The bomb squad is composed of two IFPD Police Officers and two Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office Deputies. All are now certified bomb techs having attended the FBI’s hazardous devices operations school in Huntsville, Alabama with its two-year waiting list. We have state-of-the-art equipment, complete with bomb suits and robot. This provides us with essentially the same tools and training as the military bomb teams in Afghanistan and Iraq less specialized military ordinance training. Accreditation requires at least 16 hours of training a month, but we do about 20.
Ever wondered what the bomb squad considers funny?
