Sergeant Gareth Blake talks about being a bomb technician

A Central Queensland police bomb squad co-ordinator reveals the high-stakes reality of a job where there’s no room for error and every day could be your last.

Central Queensland Police have a new state-of-the-art bomb disposal robot.

Working with devices that can literally blow you to pieces isn’t for everyone, but one Central Queensland police officer thrives on being someone who runs towards danger.

“I’ve always been part of specialist teams during my career and I’ve always liked the idea of being the one that’s running in when people are running out,” Central Queensland Police bomb squad co-ordinator Sergeant Gareth Blake said.

The Central Queensland cop, who is based in Gladstone, joined the Queensland Police force in 2007 and later the bomb squad in 2014.

“It was a very intense course,” Sgt Blake said, reflecting on his training to join the bomb squad.

Central Queensland Police have a new bomb disposal robot

“Every minute of every day was filled up with learning something and then getting tested the very next day or soon after.

“It was highly stressful at times but always enjoyable.”

Around 2020 he became the Central Queensland’s bomb squad co-ordinator.

“I manage local training, equipment, organise exercises and manage the staff we’ve got,” he said.

“Other than that… we get called out when we’re needed to go to jobs.”

Though he couldn’t be specific with details about past operations, Sgt Blake said the call outs are varied.

“These days with the internet there’s so many things that people can look up, research and find out how to do,” he said.

“Generally what we deal with is people experimenting with things and making their own explosives.”

Gladstone Police Station

To assist in their tasks, the Central Queensland bomb squad uses state-of-the-art equipment including bomb suits and advanced robotics.

“What you see on TV and movies as far as bomb suits go it’s pretty close to that, if not spot on,” Sgt Blake said.

According to Sgt Blake, conditions will determine if a robot or a bomb suit would be used in the response to a threat.

“We’ll always try and do robotics first because it’s the safest way to do it,” Sgt Blake said.

“We’ve always had robot capability but 12 months ago we received a new one, it’s a lot more advanced than the one we had… it allows us to do our job a lot better, a lot safer and a lot quicker.”

Central Queensland police bomb squad kitted up.

Queensland Police have got a total of five new bomb disposal robots, at the cost of $2.6m.

As for how accurate films that involve bomb squads, such as 2008’s Hurt Locker, Sgt Blake said there is a stark difference between fiction and reality.

“If a movie was based on an actual bomb squad job… it’ll probably be a very long movie,” Sgt Blake said.

“Just like any other movie, Hollywood sensationalises it.”

Originally published as Sergeant Gareth Blake talks about being a bomb technician