EPA, bomb squad detonate and dispose of toxic chemicals at La Jolla home

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Authorities blocked off the 600 block of Wrelton Drive in La Jolla Friday to allow a city bomb squad to safely detonate unstable chemicals discovered in a home in the neighborhood near Tourmaline Surf Park, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

Residents of nearby houses were asked to remain indoors for a half-hour or so, until the backyard disposal process was complete, a spokesman for the agency said.

“We were sitting on our patio and heard all these sirens and cops and then several explosions,” said next door neighbor Gabrielle Noel. “They told us to evacuate and it was pretty scary.”

It was a dramatic couple of days when the FBI the EPA and the bomb squad sets up shop outside a fancy house in a fancy neighborhood. Turns out, all that speculation about being some kind of drug lab was just that.

“The stuff we found could be used for industrial purposes, things like acid and chemicals used in different processes.  No, it’s nothing like drugs,” said Robert Wise of the EPA.

Friday’s explosion of dangerous chemicals will be the last of the explosions.  The rest of the material has been carefully packed into large plastic barrels and will be disposed of properly.