'Bomb factory' house in Escondido area to be burned down

The house just outside Escondido where massive amounts of explosive materials were found has been declared a public hazard and will be burned down, San Diego County officials told area residents Tuesday night.

A nearby stretch of Interstate 15 will be closed during the process, and some nearby residents will be evacuated, officials said.

The house, dubbed the "bomb factory" house by officials,  was found to contain amounts of materials of the kind used by terrorist bomb makers worldwide, as well as blasting caps, homemade grenades, and small-arms weapons.

The resident of the house, George Jakubec, a 54-year-old Serbian emigre, has been charged with 26 counts of possession of bombmaking materials and two counts of bank robbery. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail in lieu of $5 million bail.

The county has invoked its legal authority to declare a public emergency and to seize the house as a threat to public safety, a county lawyer explained to a town hall meeting of residents called by officials.

Bomb experts last week declared the one-story stucco house on Via Scott to be too dangerous to re-enter. On two occasions, they had entered the cluttered house and gathered evidence.

Sheriff Bill Gore said at the meeting that burning the house is the only safe way to rid the neighborhood of the explosive materials.

The materials include pentaerythritol tentanitrate (PETN), which is used by Al Qaeda terrorists and is the material that federal officials hope to discover through the new full-body screening and patdown procedures being used on airline passengers.

None of the charges against Jakubec involve the sale or use of explosives, and no motive for his alleged actions has been announced. His estranged wife suggested that he is mentally unstable.

The fire could be set between Dec. 8 and Dec. 10 but could be delayed depending on weather conditions, officials said. Safety barriers will be erected, some residents may be asked to leave and others to remain in their homes during the fire.

Jakubec was renting the home along the leafy, dead-end street. The owner of the home, who did not attend the town hall meeting, is discussing compensation with his insurance company, officials said.

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-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Don Bartletti / L.A. Times

Comments

[Tigerloose]

Assuming that Jakubec carried all the bomb making materials into the house, why can't he carry them out? How was Jakubec able to obtain such compounds in the first place? There is a hole in our safety net if any wing-nut has access to this stuff.

[Anne O.]

How many of these people are moving to Escondido? A neighbor moved from L.A. to Escondido and was arrested on something to do with fundraising. Is this sleepy town becoming a popular hiding place for bad guys?

[Willy]

I can just see them start to burn down the house and end up blowing up the whole neighborhood. They said the house was," too dangerous to re-enter"', so who knows how much explosive material they have missed that is still sitting around.

[Astonished]

"He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail in lieu of $5 million bail.". . . His estranged wife suggested that he is mentally unstable."

Naw! Yah Think! Can you imagine being this guys neighbor!!

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he tries to explain this one!

[Jibster]

"Jakubec was renting the home along the leafy, dead-end street. The owner of the home, who did not attend the town hall meeting, is discussing compensation with his insurance company, officials said."

How did the owner of the house not know? I'm assuming he just lets any person willing to pay for rent to enter his home, whether he's dangerous or not.

[PARyan]

Explosives can often be burned without exploding. I had to work a scene where a farmer found a large pile of decaying dynamite in an outbuilding he had forgot about and the only way to deal with such a mess was to burn the dynamite. No explosion happened.

What landlord runs background checks that would catch anything? If this guy had stayed out of trouble yet still collected explosives then why would the landlord know? Get a grip people, there are nut jobs everywhere.

The person you pass on the street can be a bomb maker or a cannibal and you'd never know to look at them. That's life. The article stated that no motive has been established so how can you call him a terrorist?

[BlueFish]

"How did the owner of the house not know? I'm assuming he just lets any person willing to pay for rent to enter his home, whether he's dangerous or not."

I believe Jakubec rented the entire house, not just a room. As a former property manager, I did credit checks through an agency, but don't know for a fact that they looked for a criminal background. And even if they did, if he didn't have a record and had okay credit, there is no way I would have known about mental health issues.

[Tom]

The owner is discussing compensation with his insurance co?? Why should the insurance company take the hit for this?? That just means the cost is spread out to us other homeowners. If the county wants to burn it, let the county and sheriffs budget take the hit. They can lay off their top heavy personnel and sell of some vehicles to pay for their folly. The owner shouldn't take the loss on this.

[Tom]

Why should the home owners insurance take the hit on this? That just increases insurance rates for us other homeowners. If the county wants to burn it, let the county and sheriffs budget take the hit. They can sell off some vehicles, lay off some of their top heavy personnel and compensate the owner for his loss.

[Dave8]

"Why should the insurance company take the hit for this?? That just means the cost is spread out to us other homeowners."

Right, that's the definition of insurance.

[Proud American]

I see a lawsuit between the city and the home owner if they burn it. They have no right to do that. Take the bomb squad and dogs in and clear it out. Also who will be responsible for the neibors homes if damage occurs?

Just more government trying to over control the public.

[mark]

How is burning a home with live amunition and explosive materials in any way safe? Stupid government, bullets can fly through stucko walls. Idiots.

[DaveLip]

This has bad idea written all over it.

Being from Philadelphia, I grew up during the MOVE seige in 1984 and the city's decision to drop a bomb on the roof of a rowhouse where the MOVE members were held up.

The city soon found out the MOVE members had earlier dumped gasoline atop all the connected rowhouses, so as soon as the bomb exploded, fire spread. A day later: two city blocks of row houses were no longer standing.

A mentally unstable man has stockpiled explosives into his house, and the city wants to burn it down?

[Astonished]

The house may have hidden booby traps set to explode in all that junk and clutter that's laying all over the place in there. There could be other hazards, other than explosives that would be hazardous to inhale.

"The county has invoked its legal authority to declare a public emergency and to seize the house as a threat to public safety. . ." Oh yes they can! Los Angeles County and Los Angles City do it all the time to known homes used by gangs and drug rings.

[pooCola]

How come the owner did not know? It's a renter's market you'll rent to anyone even with pets and PETN (no pun intended).
See this is why I wouldn't rent out my guest house there are too many psychos here in California, the land of Fruits and Nuts!

[Benny Flores]

What about other environmental effects of burning toxic chemicals. Where's the EPA? The people who live in that neighborhood should get out before the burning. Toxins from the fire can seep into your houses and can make you ill or other long term effects. These toxins will get in the air and spread throughout the whole community. There's got to be another way of doing this, the whole idea should be containing the toxins. Reconsider. California has enough pollution in the air we don't need more. Talk to your council and protest outside the home.

[Tomslick345]

This sounds like an excellent place for all of our bomb squads to practice their trade. Go into the house and disarm the bombs there and remove all of the dangerous compounds. Training Day! Save the house, save the neighborhood and learn something.

[M. M.]

Should they be burning down a house with explosive material inside? The material may only burn and not explode but i still think the safest way to rid the neighborhood of dangerous dangerous material is to physically remove it.

[Al Sefati]

What if they forget to clean all the explosive and in process of burning the whole thing blows up. Scary!

[Jose]

How can they decide to burn the house if they don't have any ideas of what else this guy had in the house? If he was living there why could they just not go around and clean up the place rather than burning it up?

[Collin]

a lot of stupid comments here.

They burned it down because it was too dangerous and cluttered to enter safely and the bomb robot couldn't get in because of the clutter. Just walking in the yard a bomb squad officer set of a small explosion.

It's much safer to set fire to the house and have people at a safe distance than to send people into the house to try and remove highly unstable chemicals that detonate by the smallest amount of friction.

The governor declared it a disaster area so homeowners insurance will cover any expense or damage incurred by the neighbors. It's still up in the air whether the owner of the bomb house will be reimbursed for the house.

[Rogue]

While I understand what people are saying - concerning the danger of sending in the bomb squad - I still can't understand how the state can sanction setting fire to this home. While explosives may not go off when set aflame, we have no idea what chemicals he may have stored in that house, and there are PLENTY that react extremely violently when introduced to fire. Hell, depending on how he has them stored, even exposure to air could set them off. Depending on the amount of any given chemical he has stockpiled, setting that house on fire could potentially take out that entire city block. I really think this is a terrible idea. They should have weighed their options better. It's my understanding that, while it is obviously extremely dangerous to send in the bomb squad, that is not why they chose not to use them. The robot may not have initially been able to make it through the house, but watching the interview from the city council member gave me the impression that it is more about the cost to the city than anything else. It's pretty ridiculous that they would choose a potentially disastrous procedure simply because it's the cheaper option.