A house in the 300 block of Bath Street in Carson City is being searched by a bomb squad Tuesday night and four homes have been evacuated after an elderly man informed authorities that he remembered having stored up to a case of dynamite in the walls of the home sometime between the 1950s and 1960s.
An initial search of the home at 306 Bath Street, about 300 yards from Fritsch Elementary school and at the intersection of Division, has indeed led to the discovery of four sticks of dynamite that were found in the garage of the home buried inside walls, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said.
A search for more dynamite will continue through the night with a bomb squad on the scene from Tahoe Douglas Explosive Ordnance Disposal and a support bomb squad to arrive from Reno.
"During the preliminary search there were sticks of dynamite that fell out of the walls and at that point we realized we needed to have the Tahoe Douglas bomb do X-rays of the walls," said Furlong.
The man, described as in his late 70s or early 80s and frail, came to the Carson City Sheriff's Office at about 2 p.m. to speak with Furlong about a private matter. As the man was leaving he informed the sheriff about the dynamite.
"He said that he had possibly up to a case of dynamite, which amounts to about 50 sticks, that he scattered throughout the home, but he didn't know where, just that he had put the dynamite inside the walls of the home," said Furlong. "Based on the time frame of what he told us, the dynamite could have been placed inside the home since the 1950s to 1960s."
The home has been unoccupied since the summer but neighbors have taken care of the lawn and upkeep of the property. The man with the dynamite told Furlong he sold the home to an elderly couple in the 1990s and failed to inform them about the dynamite. The husband has since died and the wife is in a nursing home.
Furlong said the first step was to ensure that Fritsch Elementary School students were released from school on time and orderly. As soon as the class was let go, the first stage began with the evacuation of the nearby homes.
The man informed Furlong that he had owned the home and had a license to have dynamite but, for whatever reason, thought he would store it in the walls of the home.
The man told Furlong that didn't know why he did it then and that he did it a long time ago and recently remembered and thought he had better inform authorities.
The man won't be charged with any crimes, Furlong said. "The important thing is he told us," he said.
Jim Antti, commander of the Douglas Bomb Squad said that the dynamite found so far is made of nitroglycerin and is considered highly dangerous because the explosive substance and what keeps the dynamite powder in place breaks down over the years.
"Anything like a pound of a nail into the wall hitting the dynamite could have set it off," Antti said.
Here is a news release sent by Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong:
At approximately 2:00 p.m. this date, the Carson City Sheriff’s Office was informed by an elderly gentleman that he believed he “forgot” to retrieve as much as a case of dynamite from a residence he sold up to twenty years ago. He disclosed that the dynamite was hidden in either the east or north walls of the Bath Street home, in or around the garage, but he could not be certain. To complicate the matter further, some of the dynamite could have aged up to fifty years. As a result of the limited information, fire officials suspected the volatility of the dynamite certainly could create a high risk to the area.
Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the residence in the 300 block of Bath Street, along with the Carson City Fire Department, where it was determined that the home was vacant. Since the nearby elementary school was about to release for the day, officials decided to secure the area around the house until the children were safely departed and then turn the operation over to the Tahoe Douglas Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit. By 4 p.m., the team had determined that there were in fact sticks of dynamite hidden in at least one garage wall. By 9 p.m., the assistance of the Reno disposal unit was requested to help clear the residence using advanced imaging devices.
The access routes in the area of Division and Bath Streets remained closed throughout the evening. Approximately 4 residences were evacuated early in the operation, and they were expected to be able to returned home safely by the early morning hours. Fire and disposal unit officials plan to dispose of the dynamite later in the night by incineration at a safe city owned property.
According to Sheriff Furlong criminal charges are not anticipated, and the identity of the reporting person is not being immediately released. The purpose of the response is to remove any explosive devices and return the closely knit neighborhood back to a safe area for the children and home owners.
Sheriff Furlong