Discovery of TNT prompts evacuation |
| 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. |