EOD Remove Old Shrapnel Round from Construction Site

Hampton, Virginia Homes in Buckroe Beach homes were evacuated after a construction crew installing gas lines discovered suspected ordnance. Hampton Fire Department responded, and Battalion Chief Anthony Chittum reached out to Joint Base Langley-Eustis EOD for assistance.

According to Chittum, the team X-rayed the object at the scene but were having trouble identifying it at the time. Later, U.S. Air Force spokesperson Mike Reeves confirmed the ordnance was a 3.3-inch shrapnel round from a Parrott rifle dating back to the post-Civil War era. The EOD team recovered the shrapnel round and safely disposed of it, allowing for residents to return to their homes.

Dive Team Seeks to Remove UXO from Australian Harbor

Darwin Harbour, Australia A specialist dive team is conducting a complex operation to remove a suspected UXO that may have sat on the sea floor of Darwin Harbour for 80 years.

The Royal Australian Navy's Clearance Diving Team One was deployed to Darwin to retrieve the munition, suspected to be a WWII mortar shell. The 60-80 centimeters long item was discovered by commercial divers during a survey of the planned site of the Darwin Ship Lift project.

A Defence spokesperson said a team of five divers were using sonar equipment to search for the "unexploded ordnance" after failing to locate it on previous attempts.

Snorkeling U.S. Airman Discovers WWII-era Grenade

Tokyo, Japan Residents of an Air Force base in northeastern Japan were asked to shelter in place after an airman reported finding what turned out to be a WWII Japanese grenade while snorkeling.

The base issued the following statement on its social media page, "Out of an abundance of caution the acting Misawa Air Base installation commander issued a shelter in place warning notification for north base housing after a community member discovered an unexploded ordnance 23 Sept."

The post also stated, "Misawa's Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel immediately responded to the scene and determined the object was not a threat."

Senior Airman Layne Ring found the suspect munition while he and his wife were snorkeling at Mutsu Bay, located 45 minutes north of the base. In a statement Ring said, "My wife and I love to look for sea glass, glass float, sea marbles. While we were there, I pulled out my snorkel gear and started snorkeling near the shore and found a ton of glass, and then I stumbled upon what I thought was a ceramic pot at first but to my knowledge assumed it was a ceramic fishing weight or something."

A few days later, while looking through the objects he collected, Ring noticed what appeared to be a fuse. "I realized I found a Japanese imperial navy Type 4 ceramic grenade ... created from 1944-1945 as a 'last ditch' effort to defend Japan's citizens from the Americans if they invaded," Ring said.

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Fort Riley EOD Remove WWII Grenade from Building

Harrisonville, Missouri A portion of downtown Harrisonville has reopened after an old military munition was found inside a building that was under construction. The shutdown lasted several hours as the Kansas City Police Department's Bomb and Arson Squad evaluated the device.

EOD from Fort Riley were called in to confirm the ordnance was a WWII-era grenade. It was safely removed and disposed of by the team.

Police Praise Cleaning Crew for Response to Suspected Ordnance

Essex, Massachusetts Six homes were evacuated after a cleaning crew found ordnance in a recently sold home, according to Essex Police Chief Paul Francis. Police and fire responded to the home where the suspected military ordnance was found.

Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad officials eventually determined that the shell was an inert training round. The munition was seized and was scheduled to be turned to U.S. Navy EOD. No additional items of concern were found.

A police spokesperson said, "The cleaning crew in this instance did everything right, leaving the dangerous item alone and contacting properly trained authorities to render the situation safe."

Munition Find During House Cleanout

Mansfield, Ohio A contractor cleaning out an abandoned home made an alarming discovery that led to a response by the Mansfield police and fire departments as well as the Ashland County Bomb Squad. Chelsea Stuhldreher, of Page Asbestos Services, was cleaning out the home when she found ordnance.

She notified the police who responded with the bomb squad who reportedly x-rayed the ordnance (identified as a 75mm projectile, specific nomenclature not provided) before they deemed that it was not live. Although it was deemed not to be live, the bomb squad took possession of the item for proper disposal.

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Old Dynamite Recovered Near Lake Tahoe Highway

Sacramento, California Deputies with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office were alerted by a citizen about potential explosives discarded alongside the highway 28, between the Thunderbird and Sand Harbor areas, on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

Authorities responded and after searching the area located aged dynamite sticks among pine straw, rocks, and trees about 150 feet from the highway. A multi-agency bomb squad responded to the scene and deployed a robot to retrieve the explosive. During the response, Authorities closed Highway 28 in both directions for about four hours.

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Homeowner Finds Cannonball

Newport Rhode Island The owner of the John Bliss House, a farmhouse built in 1680, by John Bliss on land deeded to him by his father-in-law, Rhode Island Gov. Benedict Arnold was digging in the yard in preparation for a new barn when he found what he described as a "shinny metal object".

Upon further investigation, homeowner Ryan Miller identified the item as a Civil War era cannonball. He contacted the Newport Historical Society, which referred him to the Naval War College Museum as well as the Varnum House Museum. "I spoke with some of the historians, and they thought mostly like it was a solid shot, solid metal," Miller explained. "But there was a slight chance it was a hollow shot that would have been filled with gunpowder."

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Unexploded Avalanche Control Device Response

Breckenridge, Colorado An unexploded avalanche control device was found near the top of peak 7 at Breckenridge. According to the Summit County Sheriff's Office, the device was safety counter charged. Prior to the controlled demolition event, the sheriff's department warned locals through social media not to be alarmed by the explosion and asked that no one call 911 in relation to the detonation.

This is not the first time unexploded avalanche control devices have been found in Breckenridge. In 2019, authorities were forced to warn hikers of 22 possible undetonated avalanche control devices launched by the Colorado Department of Transportation.


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