Red alert for dummy bomb

Press, 24 February 1977, Page 3

Red alert for dummy bomb

PA Auckland A dummy time bomb attached to a safe containing explosive liquids caused a major alert in Auckland late yesterday morning. The "bomb” was disco' 'red ticking in the dangerous goods store of Burnett and Jones, Ltd, footwear manufacturer, in Williamson Avenue, by a carpenter. It appeared to be a timing device attached to two sticks of gelignite, and had been designed to look like the real thing.

“It was a fake, but a pretty good one," said Superintendent B. R. Silk of the Auckland police after scaling down the operation which at one stage involved more than 50 police, an Internal Affairs De. irtment bomb disposal squad, and ambulance and fire chiefs. To construct the bomb the practical joker had removed the face from an alarm clock, inserted an

aluminium plate in its place, and then replaced the hands of the clock. Three wires — two green and one red — led fro the clock to two tubes wrapped in heavy bro 1 i grease paper. The bomb scare was treated as a red alert. Police and auxiliary services were quickly at the scene and up to 500 people were evacuated from homes and factories within 150 metres of the scene. Mr Silk said police were mo; . concerned about the possibility of some of the explosive liquids in the store igniting than they were with the bomb itself. For a tense 15 minutes police waited for the bomb squad to make an inspection. After defusing the device, squad members, wearing explosive proof vests, soon declared it to be a fake. Police then began a fairly intensive hunt for the practical joker.