SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Residents across the Salt Lake Valley turned to law enforcement, news sites, and social media looking for answers after several loud ‘booms’ were heard and felt Thursday afternoon.
A Sandy mother told ABC4 that her daughter “ran into the house screaming and terrified” because of the loud booms, but she did not have any answers to give her.
“Nobody knew what was happening,” Lola Amacher said. “I could hear the elementary school kids outside playing at recess … and you can hear all the kids screaming.”
According to the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center, Amacher was not the only resident seeking answers on whether or not to take her family to safety. Executive Director Ivan Whitaker said dispatch received more than 1,300 calls from noon to 1 p.m., 431 of which came through the 911 emergency line.
PREVIOUS STORY: Large booms felt and heard throughout Salt Lake Valley
This is a massive spike when compared to normal day activity, where the emergency center receives an average of 150 to 200 calls during that same time frame.
Whitaker said it was an “all hands on deck” situation, with supervisors and managers jumping in to help field the large increase in calls. Even with additional staff answering phones, he said several callers were placed on hold.
The booms were later confirmed to be Tooele Army Depot detonations. Wade Williams, Tooele Army Depot public affairs officer, said this was the ninth time they detonated old, obsolete, and unsafe munition this year.
He said before they detonate the ammunition, they alert local jurisdictions — such as cities and emergency dispatch centers — and post on Facebook. However, this morning he said they did not post on social media as they have been having problems with their Facebook.
Williams said the Tooele Army Depot understands that the booms surprised people and can be a scary situation, but that what they did today is what they normally do as they are authorized by the state to do these detonations during the months of April through October.
The Tooele Army Depot released a statement on social media a few hours after the detonations saying, in part, “We are sorry that we didn’t post anything. We will do a better job in the future.”
The statement also said the detonations “propagated further than normal” due to the current weather conditions, as “increased moisture in the ground” can amplify the vibrations.
Sgt. Andrew Battenfield with the Utah Highway Patrol told ABC4 that the detonations “caught us by surprise as much as it did you.”
He said it is his understanding that Tooele Army Depot contacted Tooele County Dispatch but no other entities, possibly because they did not anticipate that the booms would be heard across several counties.
This event is opening discussion on how future detonations should be announced to the public.
“I don’t know what the threshold is for the point where people start going into panic,” Amacher said. “I was ready to pack up my kids and head out and I’m sure parents were ready to go and pick up kids from school. But you kind of feel like that could have all been avoided had anybody thought to share this information so people were prepared and not terrified.”
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