MOUNT VERNON — CH Tool & Die workers have handled various calibers of ammunition over their 79 years in the bullet business. But what they found on Feb. 13 was certainly unexpected.
The company found four military transport canisters, each containing 16 40-millimeter anti-aircraft high-explosive rounds, when cleaning out their building at 711 N. Sandusky St.
When the company alerted the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies arrived at the scene, the officers determined they needed a tactical officer.
“So, they called the team commander, who, based on his training, knowledge, skills and ability, probably has the most awareness of what to do from that point forward,” KCSO Chief Deputy Rich Miller said.
The tactical commander then assessed the situation and decided to call the Columbus Bomb Squad and the Wright-Patterson Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD).
Miller explained that KCSO officers did not attempt to move the explosives. Instead, they sent photos to both of the bomb-removal agencies.
“Those guys, the bomb squad and EOD guys, are the experts,” Miller said. “So, since they’re the authority on it, we just follow what they prescribe as the best course of action.
“We hold the scene until they arrive. Once they’re all boots on the ground, the show is really theirs, and we’re more in a support role.”
The two bomb-removal agencies safely transported the explosives to a gravel pit on Millersburg Road near Brinkhaven and conducted a controlled explosion.
Previous bomb removal in Knox County
Miller recalled that the KCSO used the same Millersburg Road gravel pit to detonate grenade or mortar-like explosives from the Vietnam War that they found in the old Danville hardware store some time ago.
However, deputies recently dealt with another explosive relic situation.
“It wasn’t 30 days ago, we had a [Mount Vernon] homeowner call because they had discovered what they thought was some sort of explosive,” Miller said.
“[The bomb squad] had found eight [railroad torpedoes] in this person’s father’s old toolbox in the basement of her house.”
Railroad torpedoes are “about the size of a bag of M&M’s,” and folks would use them to alert those in an area that a train was coming, Miller said.
“This person called us when she was cleaning it out; her father used to work for the railroad,” Miller explained.
Bomb-removal officials did not detonate the torpedoes at the Brinkhaven gravel pit due to their size.
Instead, the Columbus Bomb Squad placed the explosives in an explosive magazine to safely transport them back to its facility for detonation.
Miller encouraged local business owners and homeowners to be cautious around possible explosives they might come across when cleaning out a back room.
“That’s more often than not how it usually happens. You’re cleaning stuff out, and it’s like, ‘Hey, where did this come from,'” Miller said.
“[People] don’t know most of the time when they acquired it, or how long it’s been there, all they know is, ‘Hey, I have this in front of me now.'”