Bomb squad called out when Washington City resident finds 2 grenades

In this 2019 file photo a Washington County Bomb Squad technician is at Frontier Drive where an old crate containing dynamite was found, Washington City, Utah, March 22, 2019 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A Washington City neighborhood was home to a barrage of police and fire department vehicles Thursday, as well as bomb squad agents who were called in to remove two grenades found in a storage box.

Washington City Police officers responded to a home on Sun Dusk Lane after a resident reported finding two grenades shortly after noon, Washington City Police Chief Jason Williams said.

Officers cordoned off the street as a precaution and were soon joined by firefighters and the Washington County Bomb Squad.

The resident told officers he was cleaning out a storage unit and brought the boxes home to go through them, which is when he opened one of the boxes and found the grenades inside. The man took the box containing the grenades outside, placed it in a vacant lot adjacent to his residence and called police.

The bomb squad arrived and inspected the grenades before removing them safely from the area.

Williams said the resident did everything right by placing the box in the vacant lot, which removed it from the home and far from any other nearby residences, and then followed it up by calling police, which resulted in a team removing the devices safely without risking the safety of other officers or civilians.

“We’d rather get the professionals out there to handle it than to potentially have an accident happen where people get hurt,” Williams said.

“Anytime you see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary call the police,” he added. “Whether it’s a strange package, an envelope or if something just doesn’t look right, call us.”

Williams said the devices will be stored until an explosive ordinance detonation team, a highly-trained team of technicians capable of handling most conventional and unconventional explosives and weaponry, comes in to safely detonate the grenades.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

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