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The stars of the Discovery Channel television show “MythBusters”– Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman — visited Dublin Wednesday to apologize to people who live in a neighborhood where homes and a car were damaged when a cannonball experiment went awry Tuesday.
A crew was filming the show at the Alameda County bomb range at about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday and were conducting an experiment using a cannon they had built about two years ago and have used at least three times before, sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson said.
The 30-pound projectile was intended to pass through several barrels of water, which would slow the cannonball, before passing through a cinder block wall and striking the bomb range’s hills, Nelson said.
But it missed the water, broke through the wall, and careened off the hill into a Dublin neighborhood where it damaged two homes and a parked car, Nelson said.
Savage and Hyneman first met with the people who live at 4051 Cassata Place before visiting the homes of other impacted residents.
About 20 people who live in the neighborhood came by the house while Savage and Hyneman were there. They briefly signed autographs and posed for pictures.
After the meeting, Savage apologized for the mishap.
Hyneman added that the seriousness of the error was a first for the show, which is based out of San Francisco and often conducts its experiments on Alameda Island and at the bomb range under the supervision of the sheriff’s office.
In its eight-year history, “MythBusters” has developed some 200 hours of television programming.
According to Savage, the show’s producers placed several barriers to try to prevent the cannonball from entering residential areas but that the cannonball apparently misfired and missed its target.
He said it appears that the cannon was fired at a slightly higher angle than originally planned. The accident is still under investigation.
Savage said the purpose of the experiment was to see if a stone cannon could breach a castle wall and that the show was comparing a stone cannon to a modern steel cannon.
The cannon that misfired was a steel cannon, he said.
In a statement by Linda Smith, Dublin’s public information officer, the city said that Dublin Police Services is investigating the Dec. 6 incident involving the errant cannonball that struck at two homes and damaged a vehicle.
“The television show “Mythbusters” was filming an episode at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Regional Training Center at the time,” Smith’s statement reads.
It adds:
“Representatives of the “Mythbusters” program and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office are cooperating with the investigation. The city does not have jurisdictional oversight of activities that occur at the county’s Training Center, but City Manager Joni Pattillo has been in contact with the sheriff’s office to discuss the incident.
“Sheriff Greg Ahern has advised the city that he has suspended all non-emergency activities at the Sheriff’s Bomb Disposal Range until the completion of a full investigation into this incident.”
Erika Heidecker, Bay City News, contributed to this story.
Erika Heidecker, Bay City News, contributed to this story.
I heard on the news that a mother and her child were sleeping in the same bedroom this cannonball went through…what a nightmare! I hope the show’s stars don’t think a visit to the neighborhood to sign autographs and take photos is a true apology. This very very easily could have ended in tragedy. It sounds like gross negligence on their part for not taking measures to assure public safety. They claim they did, but OBVIOUSLY it was not enough.
Sounds like an easy lawsuit for damages and stress caused by their poor decision to shoot a cannonball out of control. Anybody who knows anything about firearms knows that they are responsible for where the bullet (or in this case the cannonball) ends up. Responsible gun owners take the proper precautions before pulling the trigger.
Anonie, I’m not a judge, but I’m pretty sure it was not “their poor decision to shoot a cannonball out of control” that led to this unfortunate accident.
OK, is it me or is this whole cannon ball coverage ‘so 7 days ago.’? It was news Tuesday. Does it need to continue to be news a week later? It was an accident–yep, probably an avoidable accident. There was only property damage–no one was hurt. Surely the show/network will be paying dearly for it. But puhleeze, can we get over it now?