Watch ATF Agents Dispose of Seized Explosives

It was a day like any other in early March for Buffalo Trace Distillery workers unpacking boxes of Booth's dry gin — a refined gin of London reportedly favored by Queen Elizabeth II — when distillery workers discovered the bomb.

An evacuation ensued and emergency crews rushed to the scene to contain the threat, but ultimately, the old World War II-era incendiary explosive was inert.

No one was hurt, the device was safely removed without further incident, and the investigation was soon closed. Capt. Paul Blanton, the Kentucky State Police public affairs commander, summed up the results of the investigation to Herald-Leader reporter Christopher Leach.

The device was not live and described as an artifact that originated from England.

"The facility in England boxed up all these historical artifacts and sent them to Kentucky, and inside of it was a bomb-type device, possibly from World War II," Blanton said.

The device could have had explosives in it at one point, per Blanton. It did not fit like a mortar and could have been used as a submunition instead.

"Maybe something that was like a bomblet that would be dropped off a plane, but like maybe 20 or 30 of them would be dropped at once to get a carpet bombing effect," Blanton said.

The device will be kept by state police for several weeks or months before disposal.

But how long was the bomb there, and how often do people uncover old explosives that have been dormant for decades?

"It's pretty frequent," said Shawn Morman, the resident agent in charge at the Lexington office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Just a few weeks ago, his team members were called to a farm to remove some dynamite, likely used to clear old stumps by the farmer, who had recently passed away.

Morman's office covers 48 Kentucky counties spanning the eastern half of the state, from Covington all the way down to the Tennessee border.

With more than 26 years under his belt, Morman's seen a lot. He's worked to help stop a serial bomber who allegedly hid explosives in trail cameras for hikers to find a few years back, and more recently, an alleged pipe bomber who went after his wife in Ashland.

Most of the investigations the ATF responds to don't end up involving live improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

Many people keep old ordnance they've acquired like a souvenir, Morman said. It's legal for them to have it, so long as it has no explosive component, and if they acquire it from the military, it should be demilitarized or "demiled."

That said, ordnance can cause quite a scare when their owners die and it falls to loved ones to sort out belongings.

Whether they're dealing with a cannonball from 1865 or an old grenade, Morman said, "We have to assume that it's live."

"We treat those calls just as seriously as we would" any other, he said.

How often do bomb-related incidents and threats occur in Kentucky?

Data from the Bomb Arson Tracking System, BATS, for the commonwealth of Kentucky show between January 2017 and March 6, 2022, authorities reported responding to 842 explosives-related incidents.

The incidents range from explosions, hoaxes, recoveries and suspicious package reports to bomb threats.

It's important to note, however, this data is reported by law enforcement at will and is therefore not necessarily representative of every explosive incident during this timeframe.

According to the dataset, there were at least 40 explosions law enforcement responded to between 2017 and early 2022.

Much more frequently, authorities are called for "recovery," meaning they're charged with securing some kind of explosive that was found.

These can range widely, from commercial or military explosives to fireworks; homemade explosives (HMEs); chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN); IEDs; incendiary devices; over pressure devices; precursors; ammunition; inert material or even bomb-making information.

Between 2017 and 2022, there were at least 481 recovery incidents in Kentucky reported into BATS. Of these 481 recoveries, 121 involved military explosives, inert or not.

Also reported during this time were, 224 suspicious package incidents, 19 hoaxes and 78 bomb threats, which Morman describes as among the most challenging threats ATF deals with.

"You have to deal with every one of those as if it's legitimate," Morman said, and with the rise of anonymous and encrypted messaging apps, it's easier than ever to make a threat. In his opinion, "there's more than ever."

How does the ATF dispose of explosives?

A site near Lexington's old landfill has become something like an outdoor laboratory or workshop for ATF crews when they need to detonate some recovered explosive in a controlled environment away from people.

Detonations occur on a special pad away from the actual landfill site. Igniting the methane gas that builds up in landfills would be a recipe for disaster.

Wednesday, Lexington's ATF office invited the Herald-Leader to observe and document a disposal of some recovered material. With winds high, firefighters were on scene to knock down any blaze unleashed by the blast, which produced a fiery cloud and boom audible from hundreds of yards away.

However, it's rare the specifics of a munition or bomb will allow the bomb tech to remove it first. In these cases, containment vessels are used. These orb-like containers are designed with tiny holes to help vent out the pressure of the explosion.

Responders might also deploy a robot outfitted with a powerful claw to handle explosive material. Back in 2016, police in Dallas used a similar robot with an explosive attached to its arm to kill a gunman.

In other cases, technicians will squeeze themselves into heavy protective suits made of kevlar and somewhat resembling space suits. The field of vision is limited and mobility is cumbersome, and one also has to hold their breath. Once the face shield is down, the only fresh air the wearer gets is via a jet that pumps in air by button-press outside the suit.

When most people imagine defusing a bomb, they'd likely picture those nail-biting action movie scenes when the hero agonizes over clipping the red wire or the blue wire as the countdown clock ticks ever onward.

But those scenes don't capture the reality, which is far more complex, Morman said.

"It's Hollywood," he said.

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