By Joe Meyer
The Columbia Daily News
BOONE COUNTY, Mo. - The Boone County Fire Protection District’s bomb squad has been out of service since the FBI suspended its certification this month because of a lack of trained bomb technicians.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s bomb squad would respond to any explosives incidents in Boone County outside Columbia’s city limits.
The FBI notified the fire district of the suspension in an April 9 letter because the fire district only has one bomb technician certified by the National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board. Another bomb technician for the district retired last year, fire district Chairman John Gordon said. To qualify for FBI certification, a bomb squad must have at least two certified bomb technicians.
The discrepancy was discovered during an FBI inspection in December, Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp said.
FBI special agent Bob Herndon said area residents “are still protected by entities that have certified bomb squads, such as the Missouri highway patrol.”
The fire district has been in a pinch to find another bomb technician since Ken Hines, an assistant chief of the life safety bureau, retired in July, fire district officials said. His retirement followed two stints of active duty with the Coast Guard. Hines was a member of the Coast Guard Reserve.
The fire district has an agreement with the University of Missouri Police Department that includes Sgt. Chris Groves on the bomb squad, Blomenkamp said. But that still leaves the fire district one technician short.
There are some complications to getting a second bomb technician certified, sources say. Certification is a seven-week course offered in Alabama, where there can be a 14-month waiting list. The person seeking certification also must be a certified law enforcement officer.
Because none of the fire district’s paid employees are certified law enforcement officers, Blomenkamp said, the district would rather enter into an agreement with another public safety agency to send someone to the school and have them serve on the bomb squad.
“We need to find somebody that can meet those qualifications and then go to the school and become certified,” Gordon said. “When we get that done, we’ll be back on line and good to go.”
“There’s no other reason,” Gordon added, speaking of the suspension. “That’s the only challenge is to have two certified bomb techs at all times. We’ll probably have more, but we at least got to have two.”
It’s uncertain when the bomb squad might be recertified, but Gordon guesses it will take months. The fire district’s bomb- disposal unit, established in 2001, responded to two calls last year and three in 2006, Blomenkamp said. The unit has not been dispatched this year.
The Columbia Fire Department has a Hazardous Device Team that remains active, Battalion Chief Steve Sapp said. Organized in 2006, the unit consists of Battalion Chief Jim Weaver and Columbia police Officer Corey Bowden, who are both certified with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The RCMP certification is not recognized by the FBI, Sapp said.
Copyright 2008 The Columbia Daily News