A California home stuffed with huge amounts of homemade explosives was set on fire by authorities Thursday in what was determined to be the safest way of disposing of the volatile materials.
Officials remotely set fire to the Escondido, Calif., home shortly before 11:00am local time. Small flames could be seen shooting out of the roof of the home as the blaze, which was expected to last at least two hours, got underway.
Local authorities said the home, rented by former software consultant George Djura Jakubec, contained “the largest quantity of homemade explosives found in one location in the history of the United States.”
Among the materials found inside the San Diego-area home was PETN, the powerful explosive linked to prominent terror cases including the 2001 shoe bomb plot, the 2009 underwear bomber, and the recent cargo plane bomb plot.
Residents in nearby homes were evacuated Wednesday and a 16-foot wall was built on part of the property to protect neighboring homes during the blaze. Traffic on a nearby freeway was also stopped in both directions ahead of the fire.
Jan Caldwell, spokeswoman for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, told KTTV-TV that the best method to “render this property safe was to destroy it by fire.”
In order to prepare the home for the blaze, firefighters opened the doors and windows of the structure and cut two holes in the roof to create the proper air flow for a safe demolition, Caldwell explained.
Serbian-born Jakubec, 54, was arrested November 18 when authorities discovered the explosives cache. The home was brought to authorities’ attention when a gardener employed by Jakubec set off an explosion by brushing against an explosive powder left on the back yard of the home, FOXNews.com reported. The gardener suffered severe injuries but was expected to recover.
Jakubec was charged with 28 counts of possession and manufacturing destructive devices, as well as two counts of bank robbery.