There were a total of 189 explosive device incidents that prompted the deployment of bomb squads during the month of October, according to a Department of Homeland Security monthly report on improvised explosive device incidents in the United States.

DHS compiles a monthly report based on open source material onIED incidentsthroughout the United States. The reports are not released publicly, but posted on an online information resource for law enforcement calledTRIPwire.  A copy of the most recent report was recently published online by the online document archivePublic Intelligence. The report also contains an index that includes date, city, and links to news reports for each incident.

There were 43 instances where an IED, explosive material, or ordnance was rendered safe, according to the report. Sixteen of those were described as ordnance. Seven were described as pipe bombs.

The report also contains reports of bomb threats whether explosive devices were found or not. There were a total of 61 bomb threats in the month of October. Fifty-three percent of bomb threats were against schools.

California and Virginia were the most active states with 29 and 17 reported incidents, respectively.

"The government is constantly working to prepare U.S. bomb disposal units for the day when they will have to deal locally with an IED in a car on a busy city street," Security Management editor Joseph Straw reported in April 2008 after TRIPwire went live.