A Krestova family got a scare on Tuesday when they were doing some spring cleaning on their newly purchased property — and found a small bomb.
RCMP were called to the property between Nelson and Castlegar on Tuesday afternoon when the woman called in to say they had found the ordinance.
“We’re doing spring cleanup, and my partner’s grandfather found it on the backside of one of the sheds, covered up in grass,” says Emily Duggan. “He picked it up and brought it up to the house, and asked me what it was.”
With a newborn and a three year old in the house, Duggan said she took no chances.
“I said ‘God, don’t carry that around Opa, it looks like a bomb!’,” she recalled. “So then he picked it up again, and moved it over to the driveway, which is where it was when the police arrived.”
Duggan says when the police showed up, they made the family stay in the house, and Facetimed a police bomb disposal expert for advice.
He was able to tell over the video feed it was not a threat.
“When our members got there and saw the bomb, it was quite obvious it was deactivated,” says Sergeant Monty Taylor. “If there had been any risk to the public, we would have immediately evacuated the area and called in the explosives unit. But it was obvious there was no risk.”
Taylor says it’s likely the bomb was kept as a keepsake by the previous owner, who may have been ex-military.
“The guy may have had it as a souvenir, but he didn’t take it with him when he sold the property to this couple,” he says.
“Kudos to the citizen for calling this in, and not picking it up and bringing it into their house — or to our detachment,” he says.
Taylor says military explosive experts will likely come pick up the bomb— now safely stored at the RCMP detachment— and inspect it.
It’s not clear what will happen after that, or who wants the rusted old piece of ordinance — likely an 11-pounder practice bomb used by the air force.
Duggan says she doesn’t want it back on her property— and will be taking a little extra care as the cleanup continues.
“My three year old wanted to know what a bomb was,” says Duggan. “So we had to pull up YouTube videos to show her.
“She said ‘That’s scary!'” says Duggan. “And I said, ‘Exactly. Don’t touch one.”
