'Kaboom' startles town

Odessa residents have been enquiring about an explosion heard in town last Monday evening, August 8. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office reported from its Facebook page that Adams County deputies had been contacted by an Adams County resident about a large quantity of illegal fireworks located on a rural property.

“The Adams County Sheriff’s Office then contacted the Washington State Patrol bomb squad to dispose of the illegal fireworks, which were apparently very unstable. The bomb squad responded from Moses Lake. After collecting the items, the bomb squad went to a state-owned gravel pit outside of Odessa to properly dispose of the items, which they felt were too unstable to travel very far,” said Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers.

As explained to Magers, “the items were picked up in Adams County on Davis Road, and the closest state-owned [gravel] pit they could find was outside of Odessa. The WSP commannder, based in the Wenatchee office, thought he was still in Adams County. The nearest residence was informed of what was to happen. Then the bomb technicians brought in their trailer and did a controlled explosion. Dispatch personnel out of Wentachee advised the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, but not knowing that the bomb squad was actually in Lincoln County, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was not notifed.”

Only the home that squad members could see from the gravel pit was notified of the boom to come. The rest of Odessa and the rural properties surrounding it were not notified, to the consternation of many. The blast shook homes throughout the town and was much louder than any Fourth of July fireworks.

Fortunately, the situation was handled safely by the bomb squad. Unfortunately, in these times of suicide bombers in the news constantly, there was no warning to the town at large that such an event was about to take place. Really now, couldn’t Google Maps easily have told the state agency what county they were operating in?