Poway

Two Poway youths accused of several pipe-bomb explosions in that city were arrested after they allegedly used one of the bombs to blow up a pumpkin Thursday night on the porch of a Poway home, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

The two 14-year-olds, whose names are being withheld because they are juveniles, are “straight-A” students at Poway High School, where a pipe bomb exploded Wednesday causing $300 in damage, said Don Needham, a detective with the Sheriff’s Arson and Explosives unit.

No one has been injured in any of the incidents, Needham said. The two youths, who admitted to authorities that they detonated several other pipe bombs for “experimental” purposes, have been released to the custody of their parents, he said.

The explosion at Poway High School blew out a window of the administration office, Needham said, adding that the youths told him that they were not directing the blast at the school for any particular reason, but that it was convenient to detonate the bomb there.

The materials used to make the pipe bombs came from the garage of one of the youths, where his father had stored ammunition materials.

Needham said the pair face a minimum of eight felony counts each, including counts of possessing, manufacturing and detonating explosive devices.