Discovery of TNT prompts evacuation
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October 6, 2013 |
A man who purchased a box of dishes from the
widow of a long-time miner Saturday found he'd
purchased a bit more than he'd bargained for,
and the discovery prompted the evacuation of
around a dozen homes in the Eaton Addition in
Bonners Ferry.
After making the purchase at the home of the
late Samuel Reifsteck, 7157 Cedar Street, who
passed away May 21, Keith Denning took the box
to his garage at 6249 Colorado Street and began
unpacking the box to see what he'd purchased. A
cylinder of some sort kept rolling in his way,
but it didn't dawn on him until he saw the faint
lettering on the side, "Danger TNT," that he
realized it might be a good idea to quit pushing
it out of the way and call for help.
Bonners Ferry police and firefighters were
notified of the find at 2:20 p.m., and police,
seeing the age of the explosive and noting that
it was "sweating," began evacuating surrounding
residence and called in Boundary County
Emergency Incident Commander Bob Graham, who
called in the Spokane bomb squad, who arrived at
about 9 p.m., and safely removed the one pound
stick of dynamite, estimated to be around 45
years old, along with several blasting caps used
to detonate the TNT.
Most area residents were allowed to return to
their homes before the bomb squad arrived,
except for three homes closest to the material.
After the explosives were removed, the bomb
squad transported them to a remote area and
detonated them safely. |
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