Mission man finds pipe bomb in lawn

ST. IGNATIUS — Sundays are always a great day to catch up on yard work and give the grass a trim. Fortunately, one St. Ignatius man had his eyes peeled when he came across a pipe bomb while mowing the lawn last Sunday.

A resident on 2nd Avenue called in the initial report to 911 at 2:23 p.m. on May 17, finding what looked like a bomb in his yard. The St. Ignatius Department responded first, arriving on scene two minutes later.

From there police officers treated the report as an authentic live threat and contacted the Lake County Office of Emergency Management. Officers agreed with OEM Director Steve Stanley to transfer the device to a secure location for pickup at the Mission Airport.

Later that afternoon Stanley picked up the bomb and transported it to a more secure containment and holding location where the device awaits disposal by blasting. The director described the bomb as one-inch PVC pipe with caps on both ends and a hole drilled in one end, adding that there was no fuse.

Stanley said there is a local blaster who disposes of such items including old ammunition that his office commonly comes across. The director explained that this sort of incident is a lot more common to come across than most people would expect, adding that his office sees a lot of old military ordinance weapons such as grenades that the military will actually pick up and dispose of themselves. The OEM also receives aid from the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office in disposing of plentiful amounts of old dynamite when discovered locally.