Fire in the hole!

TONY DODERO

“Cover your ears and eyes,” shouted Costa Mesa Police Lt. Karl

Schuler.

I fumbled for my sunglasses, shoved them onto my face and stuck my

fingers in my ears.

Baaaaang!

Across the room, I saw a yellow flash and curls of white smoke.

Schuler and I, and a number of other observers, Costa Mesa police

officers, Orange County sheriff’s deputies and Costa Mesa

firefighters, made our way to the rubble amid the strong smell of

sulfur.

There I saw the former office of Daily Pilot Managing Editor S.J.

Cahn. The door had been ripped in two with a big hole in the wall

near his old window. It wasn’t pretty.

Then, I glanced over at my old office next door to see what it

looked like.

The officers had been there earlier. The window was shattered and

the door busted apart. That’s OK. I always hated how that door stuck.

Across the room, Sports Editor Rich Dunn’s former office didn’t look

much better, and next up was the old photo department.

Indeed, this Wednesday, the Daily Pilot’s old office building, now

vacant and ready for demolition, was being used as a facility to

train SWAT team members from the county sheriff, Costa Mesa and

Newport Beach police.

Hearing about the event, I invited myself to come and watch what

was to become of the place I worked out of for 15 years.

I got more than I bargained for as Schuler took me on a tour of

the upstairs offices that used to house the Daily Pilot newsroom.

There, the SWAT team was working one of four scenarios -- the

explosive breech scenario, the technique of opening up doors and

startling the life out of criminal suspects through the use of

explosives.

Why the officers chose to blow up the newsroom versus another part

of the building is anyone’s call, but it was interesting to watch,

nonetheless.

Aside from the explosive breech, there was the tool breech

scenario; the active shooter scenario, in which a Columbine-style

shooter is wading through the building; and the K-9 scenario, which I

also got to observe.

In this scenario, the SWAT team officers are learning how to team

up with the dogs against the bad guys.

“We’re trying to integrate dogs with the SWAT team because they

are such a valuable resource,” Schuler said.

Dogs, I learned, are great for crawling under houses or climbing

into attics, places suspects may be hiding. And in particular, the

dogs used by police K-9 units today, Belgian malinois, have more

energy and less health problems than their German shepherd

counterparts.

As we stood outside waiting to watch the demonstration of the K-9

unit, Costa Mesa Senior K-9 Officer Mike Cohen explained that the

Belgian malinois were also preferred because their span on the job is

six to eight years versus the three to four for shepherds.

As looked over at the dog that was ready to pounce on the

simulated suspect, I could see why. He couldn’t sit still (a lot like

my 21-month-old son), and his muscles were rippling with

anticipation.

“He’s amped, he’s ready, he knows he’s going to get something,”

Cohen said.

And get something he did.

After swirling about the back rooms of the old Pilot building,

sniffing for a trace of the target, the dog zeroed in on the faux

suspect, crouching behind a door-covered nook behind the stairs. The

officers ordered the suspect to come out, and the suspect -- in

reality an officer dressed in a bite suit -- slowly creaked the door

open.

Within seconds, the dog bolted across the room and with his jaws

open, flew into the air and latched onto the arms of the officer with

his teeth, violently shaking his head as the fake suspect headed

toward the SWAT team.

“That must be terrifying to suspects,” I said to Cohen. Yep, he

said, but he noted that if the suspects would not panic, they would

come out of such incidents unscathed. But most suspects fight with

the dogs and pay a hefty price, he said.

Wednesday’s drill was part of a larger effort to join forces with

all the public safety agencies, Schuler said.

For example, the Costa Mesa police officers don’t have the

explosive ability that the sheriff’s deputies have, and the

paramedics are even teaming with SWAT teams to assist with officers

who may get injured at a crime scene or even during training, Schuler

said.

“We feel it’s important to share resources as a team,” Schuler

said.

And even though we’ve been gone since October, it was fun to know

that the old Daily Pilot building could be part of that resource,

sharing as well. And I have to admit it was especially fun watching

Cahn’s office get blown to bits.

* TONY DODERO is the editor. He may be reached at (714) 966-4608

or by e-mail at tony.dodero@latimes.com.