Explosive devices found in brush fire cleanup
Explosive devices found in brush fire cleanup
7 July 2008
published by www.kxly.com
USA — Spokane Firefighters were cleaning up a small bush fire in Liberty Park on the lower South Hill area when they found an explosive device in the debris Sunday evening.
The fire started at around 6:00 pm, and crews were able to put it out quickly. However, as crews were cleaning up debris, they noticed an explosive device in the charred grass.
“Probably about 15 or 20 minutes into this fire, we were actually starting to scale down,” Assistant Fire Chief Brian Shaeffer said. ” Everything was going great until we found the device.”
Investigators say it was a Claymore land mine, or an M18A. It is primarily used for military purposes and it is capable of firing shrapnel up to 300 feet.
The bomb squad and representatives from Fairchild Air Force Base were called in to look at the device. Once on the scene, the bomb squad found a second explosive buried under the land mine.
At around 10:30pm Sunday, the two devices were unearthed and taken to an undisclosed location for further investigation.
One of the devices was said to be inactive and another was said to be unsafe. An investigation is ongoing.
