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05-25-2006, 04:42 AM
GreatBallsofFireworks (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--fireworksseized0524may24,0,4986716.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork)
18,000 pounds of fireworks seized from Long Island highway truck
May 24, 2006, 10:16 PM EDT
WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. (AP) _ Police officers who stopped a rented truck that was tailgating a fuel tanker on a highway say they made a potentially explosive discovery _ 18,000 pounds of fireworks, enough to destroy property up to five blocks away.
"It would have devastated a quarter-mile radius if they had gone off simultaneously," Suffolk County Police Department spokesman Robert Boden said Wednesday.
The seizure was the largest in the county's history, he said. State law prohibits the sale or possession of fireworks without a permit.
To demonstrate how powerful 18,000 pounds of fireworks could be, police exploded about 25 pounds of the sky rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks inside a car at the department's firearms range in Westhampton. The car was destroyed in a massive ball of fire.
The truck carrying the explosives was found to be dangerously overloaded when it was pulled over on Sunrise Highway on Monday for a routine safety check, said police, who called it a disaster waiting to happen.
A police dog, Nitro, a German shepherd added to the department's anti-terrorism efforts after Sept. 11, 2001, sniffed out the fireworks during the stop.
The driver of the truck, whose manifest said it was carrying paper goods, had brought the fireworks up from Maryland for illegal resale, police Commissioner Richard Dormer said.
The driver, who was with his adult son, faces multiple summonses for carrying hazardous materials and driving an overweight truck, police said.
Long Island is home to the famed Fireworks by Grucci company, which was struck by tragedy in 1983, when an explosion rocked its Bellport headquarters, killing two people. The company has produced major fireworks programs all over the United States, including for presidential inaugurations and the Statue of Liberty's centennial.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
18,000 pounds of fireworks seized from Long Island highway truck
May 24, 2006, 10:16 PM EDT
WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. (AP) _ Police officers who stopped a rented truck that was tailgating a fuel tanker on a highway say they made a potentially explosive discovery _ 18,000 pounds of fireworks, enough to destroy property up to five blocks away.
"It would have devastated a quarter-mile radius if they had gone off simultaneously," Suffolk County Police Department spokesman Robert Boden said Wednesday.
The seizure was the largest in the county's history, he said. State law prohibits the sale or possession of fireworks without a permit.
To demonstrate how powerful 18,000 pounds of fireworks could be, police exploded about 25 pounds of the sky rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks inside a car at the department's firearms range in Westhampton. The car was destroyed in a massive ball of fire.
The truck carrying the explosives was found to be dangerously overloaded when it was pulled over on Sunrise Highway on Monday for a routine safety check, said police, who called it a disaster waiting to happen.
A police dog, Nitro, a German shepherd added to the department's anti-terrorism efforts after Sept. 11, 2001, sniffed out the fireworks during the stop.
The driver of the truck, whose manifest said it was carrying paper goods, had brought the fireworks up from Maryland for illegal resale, police Commissioner Richard Dormer said.
The driver, who was with his adult son, faces multiple summonses for carrying hazardous materials and driving an overweight truck, police said.
Long Island is home to the famed Fireworks by Grucci company, which was struck by tragedy in 1983, when an explosion rocked its Bellport headquarters, killing two people. The company has produced major fireworks programs all over the United States, including for presidential inaugurations and the Statue of Liberty's centennial.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.