By Brad Wong
The Seattle Post Intelligencer
FIFE, Wash. — Bomb squad units used a remote-control robot to defuse two homemade devices in Fife late Thursday morning after a police officer discovered them on patrol.
The Fife police officer discovered the bombs, which were wrapped in some type of heavy tape, around 8:35 a.m. in the 3300 block of North Levee Road, Lt. Tony Budzius said.
The area is near the Puyallup River and largely industrial, he added. One house in the area was empty at the time.
Bomb squad specialists from the Tacoma Police and Pierce County Sheriff’s departments used a water cannon, which was attached to the robot, to disable the bombs.
Investigators will send the devices to the Washington State Patrol crime lab to determine if there are clues about who made them, Budzius said.
“It appears that they were homemade setups, designed not to damage but for show,” he said.
One bomb stood about 8 to 10 inches tall and 4 to 5 inches in diameter, he said. The other device was about 8 inches tall and about 3 inches in diameter.
Both had improvised fuses on their tops, Budzius said. One was attached to a starter fluid canister.
He declined to say what type of explosive materials the bombs contained. They were disabled around 11:15 a.m.
Copyright 2007 The Seattle Post Intelligencer