San Diego Bomb Factory Will Burn Today

Bomb Factory Will Burn Today/Photo CBS8.com

Yesterday San Diego law enforcement officials announced that U.S. District Judge Larry Burns' refused to delay the burning of the "bomb factory" here in Escondido responding to a request from attorneys of George Jakubec, who requested a delay in order for his defense team to retrieve materials from the home important for Jakubec's defense, items including  book on mining and notes scribbled on graph paper suggesting the explosive materials he was manufacturing may have been intended for mining purposes.

As write this blog entry the bomb explosive unit, sheriff department, Escondido police and federal agencys involved in this burn are having a safety briefing. In about 45 minutes deputies will again go door to door in the area to remind residents that they will all have to be out of their homes no later than 7 a.m. and the burn down is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and hopefully end no later than noon, weather permitting.  However regarding weather this area is under a warning for thick fog and low visibility up to 9 a.m. so we will see if this causes a delay.

Interstate 15, a eight lane highway which is a major route in and out of San Diego will be closed at the minimum 3 hours this morning and at 5 a.m. this morning just the knowledge that Interstate 15 will close is causing major traffic backups this morning as some commuters are already avoiding the area.

Bomb squad officers say they found the same types of chemicals used by suicide bombers and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan when they were deployed earlier in the year with various National Guard Units. The materials included Pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN, which was used in the 2001 airliner shoe-bombing attempt as well as airplane cargo bombs discovered last month by authorities.

The chemicals were found after a gardener accidentally set off an explosion Nov. 18 at the home by stepping on what authorities believe was a byproduct of highly unstable Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, or HMTD.


Investigators said Jakubec admitted dumping the highly unstable substance in the backyard. Even the byproduct of the HMTD chemical process is volatile enough to cause an explosion when gravel is scuffed together, they said. A bomb squad officer set off another minor explosion in the same area of the yard but escaped unscathed, prosecutors said.