FAST FACTS:
(Memphis 1/26/2012) The Shelby County Bomb squad sets off an explosive demonstration for people trainings about once a month but Thursday morning when they lit the fuse, people miles around jumped.
"I looked at Roger my husband and I said 'I think that was an explosion,' said Kathy Sapp.
Sapp lives about 5 miles from the training facility and was getting ready for work when she heard the boom.
"All of a sudden, we heard an explosion. And then we heard another one, and another one, and possibly two more. We thought we heard about five," said Sapp.
Perry McEwen says Thursday's low clouds and fog could be to blame.
"Explosives are omni directional so they radiate out 360 degrees and the shock waves and sound waves rebound off the clouds and back to the earth's surface and back again. So it reverberates until it finally dissipates," said McEwen.
He says on a clear day you may not even hear them.
"Never heard it before. Never. And it was a very loud distinctive noise it was not something you could mistake for something else," said Sapp.
The squad set off 6 explosions at their range in east Memphis as a training exercise for investigators who have never been exposed to explosives.
They notify people around the penal farm where they train before setting off an explosion.
"We'd make a phone call to the sheriff's dispatch and we'd notify all the correctional people and anyone close to us that the bomb squad is on site and we're going to do some training today," said Chief Inspector Andy Boyd.
After today's public concern they say they will spread word to the public through the media on days like today.
- Many northeast Memphis residents were alarmed when they heard an explosion Thursday morning
- The sound was the Shelby County Bomb Squad setting off a routine demonstration
- Say low clouds are to blame for the echo
(Memphis 1/26/2012) The Shelby County Bomb squad sets off an explosive demonstration for people trainings about once a month but Thursday morning when they lit the fuse, people miles around jumped.
"I looked at Roger my husband and I said 'I think that was an explosion,' said Kathy Sapp.
Sapp lives about 5 miles from the training facility and was getting ready for work when she heard the boom.
"All of a sudden, we heard an explosion. And then we heard another one, and another one, and possibly two more. We thought we heard about five," said Sapp.
Perry McEwen says Thursday's low clouds and fog could be to blame.
"Explosives are omni directional so they radiate out 360 degrees and the shock waves and sound waves rebound off the clouds and back to the earth's surface and back again. So it reverberates until it finally dissipates," said McEwen.
He says on a clear day you may not even hear them.
"Never heard it before. Never. And it was a very loud distinctive noise it was not something you could mistake for something else," said Sapp.
The squad set off 6 explosions at their range in east Memphis as a training exercise for investigators who have never been exposed to explosives.
They notify people around the penal farm where they train before setting off an explosion.
"We'd make a phone call to the sheriff's dispatch and we'd notify all the correctional people and anyone close to us that the bomb squad is on site and we're going to do some training today," said Chief Inspector Andy Boyd.
After today's public concern they say they will spread word to the public through the media on days like today.
