It’s not a completely uncommon call for police.
Someone is cleaning out an older relative’s home when they come across something that looks like part of a bomb or weapon.
That’s exactly what happened last Friday afternoon in Burnaby, when local Mounties were called out to a home in the 5500 block of Halley Avenue. The area was blocked off after the discovery of “unexploded military ordinance.”
More specifically, police described the item as a large-calibre piece of ammunition, possibly from an anti-tank rifle. It was large enough for the homeowners to call police.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis said the family was cleaning out their parents’ home when they made the discovery. After a few hours, the device was eventually removed and taken away by the military without any problems.
But the incident has RCMP reminding people how to handle the situation if it comes up.
“Wherever you find it, call the police,” Buis suggested, also urging people to move away from the area. “Don’t move it.”
He noted calls like this to police aren’t all that uncommon when relatives are involved in the military.
“People are going through relatives’ belongings and they find these things,” he said, adding the devices can still be quite dangerous because it’s hard to tell if they’re live or deactivated.
Typically after a call, the RCMP’s explosives unit or the military will be called in to handle the device.
In the case of Friday’s incident, Buis said the family did the right thing by calling police immediately.
“It worked out very well. It’s one of those odd things that occurs from time-to-time,” he said.
