TPD Remembers the OKC Bombing

04/20/2015 – At the time of the Oklahoma City bombing the Tulsa Police Department was the only one with bomb sniffing dogs and a robot.

The U.S. Attorneys General office called them to respond to the Alfred P. Murrah building after the bomb exploded.

FOX23 talked to two officers who raced down the highway to help. They were part of a handful of officers that responded.

“I just remembered rounding the corner thinking ‘holy crap’,” said Cpl. Steve Wood.

“One thing I remember and have always remembered, getting out of the car and just the smell. Kenny D (Daggs) had his dog with us and the first thing is Kenny’s dog sat as soon as he got out of the car. And we knew that with the dog sitting he’s indicating that he smelled explosives,” said Marty Irwin with TPD.

Irwin and Wood said on day one they had to respond to reports of more bomb threats around Oklahoma City.

They worked 12-hours a day for several days, weeks even, sifting through debris, hosing it down in small trays.

“The biggest things we were finding were the little round beads of fertilizer. We would find handfuls of that stuff in that crater,” said Wood.

Also in that crater at the scene more than a month later is where the final victim was found.

“We knew she was in there. The coroner told us, ‘we’re looking for one more person.’ Once we found her she didn’t look anything like a human body,” said Wood.

They also remember all the people along the fence who left condolences and offered support every time they went to the Red Cross truck for food and water.

“The fence was covered full of watchers, these people just came up and every time we’d go back there toward the truck, they would clap,” said Wood.

“You’re at a terrible thing but they’re clapping for you because you’re working,” said Irwin.

They were working at the site that changed the city, the state and the nation.

On their final day nearly two months later they took a group picture with other officers and federal agents from across the country who in some cases volunteered to help.

“One thing I remember about that, it was cloudy, coroner sang amazing grace and it got sunny,” said Irwin.

“There were a lot of tears that last day,” said Wood.

“And everybody up there, I don’t know if there was a dry eye out of everybody there,” said Irwin.

The original article from FOX 23 can be found here.