You can buy explosive targets legally in many stores in Ohio, but is is against the law to use them because they are considered a dangerous ordinance in the state.
Just a spoonful of the target material makes a blast. From all the videos available on YouTube, you can see people packing pounds of explosive target product into canisters, appliances and even barns.
"Firecrackers on steroids, basically," said Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson. "A small amount will make a big boom but obviously, the larger amount of the product that you get the larger the explosion and the more damage that's going to occur. "
Sheriff Simpson said the misuse of the product recently landed a local man in the hospital. He suffered serious injuries when several pounds were packed into an RV on June 18 at a home on Engle Rd.
A witness who called 9-1-1 said, "They shot an RV with Tannerite and one person got hit with a piece of Shrapnel." Tannerite is a brand name for one popular brand of exploding target. Ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder make up the powerful compound. When they are separate, they are not dangerous but mixed and shot with high-velocity rounds, they become explosive.
"When you mix those two components together, by definition in the Ohio Revised Code, you're creating a dangerous ordinance," said Chief Jeff Leaming of the Sugarcreek Township Fire Department. Leaming also said similar to fireworks, explosive targets are not aggressively enforced here unless complaints from neighbors, property damage or injuries occur.
The Preble County man who was injured is now recovering at home. "This case we're investigating is a great example of what can go wrong when you're doing things like this," said Sheriff Simpson. "This gentleman is lucky he's alive."
