Highway 166 is open again after the Kern County Sheriff's bomb squad disabled a suspicious device found on the shoulder just east of Maricopa.
The device, which at first glance appeared to be a possible homemade explosive, was blown apart from a high-pressure water burst from a remote operated vehicle.
After it was disabled, it was examined first remotely by video from a camera on the ROV then up close by two members of the bomb squad and is not believed to have been an explosive.
Just what it was has not been made public.
The device, similar in appearance to a pipe bomb, was found laying on the south shoulder of the road about a half-mile east of the Maricopa city limits by a Caltrans worker late Tuesday morning.
Kern County Sheriff's Sgt. Martin Downs said it was “highly suspicious,” and that's why the area was cordoned off and the bomb squad called.
"It has some of the characteristics of a homemade explosive device,” Downs said.
The highway was quickly shutdown from the junction with Highway 33 in Maricopa and Pentland Road on the east.
The bomb squad was called in and two bomb technicians used the Andros F-6A ROV to approach and view the device remotely from the back of a truck several hundred feet from its location.
A high-pressure burst of water was used to disable the device and then it was further examined.
The highway was finally reopened shortly after 2 p.m.
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Highway 166 is open again after the Kern County Sheriff's bomb squad disabled a suspicious device found on the shoulder just east of Maricopa.
The device, which at first glance appeared to be a possible homemade explosive, was blown apart from a high-pressure water burst from a remote operated vehicle.
After it was disabled, it was examined first remotely by video from a camera on the ROV then up close by two members of the bomb squad and is not believed to have been an explosive.
Just what it was has not been made public.
The device, similar in appearance to a pipe bomb, was found laying on the south shoulder of the road about a half-mile east of the Maricopa city limits by a Caltrans worker late Tuesday morning.
Kern County Sheriff's Sgt. Martin Downs said it was “highly suspicious,” and that's why the area was cordoned off and the bomb squad called.
"It has some of the characteristics of a homemade explosive device,” Downs said.
The highway was quickly shutdown from the junction with Highway 33 in Maricopa and Pentland Road on the east.
The bomb squad was called in and two bomb technicians used the Andros F-6A ROV to approach and view the device remotely from the back of a truck several hundred feet from its location.
A high-pressure burst of water was used to disable the device and then it was further examined.
The highway was finally reopened shortly after 2 p.m.
