Hand Grenades Found in Backpack

Workers today found a backpack filled with six hand grenades and other explosive devices in a county drainage ditch on Lakeview Avenue in Placentia.

Orange County bomb squad investigators detonated the hand grenades about 1:15 p.m. in a containment vessel, and were waiting for the arrival of a larger open-air trailer to safely detonate more explosive blasting caps, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

"It's going to be a huge, huge blasting sound," Amormino said of the second detonation, which was expected to happen about 2:30 p.m.

The backpack containing the grenades, black powder, white powder, fuse igniters, blasting caps, grenade fuses and two canisters was found just before 9 a.m. on Lakeview between Orangethrope and La Palma avenues, Amormino said.

Later, he said, investigators found "numerous" additional blasting caps near the backpack, which was significantly deteriorated, indicating it may have been in the ditch for quite a while.

The FBI was called in to help investigate "because of the sheer number of devices," Amormino said.

Lakeview was expected to remain closed between La Palma and Orangethorpe through the afternoon, Amormino said.

-- City News Service