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Explosive threat neutralized in downtown Nevada City (VIDEO)

A Placer County explosive ordinance disposal member places an M type explosive device onto the Broad Street sidewalk before it is transferred to a trailer for later disposal Wednesday afternoon in downtown Nevada City. A man brought the device to the police department for disposal after it was given to him 20 years ago.
Photo: Elias Funez

An explosive threat was neutralized Wednesday afternoon in downtown Nevada City after an ordeal that began 20 years ago when a man was gifted an M type explosive device, according to authorities.

On Wednesday the man — who was reportedly cleaning out his garage — came across the explosive and brought it to the Nevada City Police Department to dispose of it.

“A gentleman brought him a stick of dynamite,” Nevada City interim Police Chief Ted Stec said of the man. “He saw it and figured the right thing to do was to bring it to the police department to dispose of it.”



A Placer County explosive ordinance disposal team used a robot to remove an M type explosive device from the back seat of a vehicle brought to downtown Nevada City Wednesday afternoon.
Photo: Elias Funez

Stec described how lobby staff became uneasy at the situation before ordering evacuations of nearby businesses, shutting down a 1,000-foot stretch of Broad Street between Fur Traders and the Nevada Theatre, and calling in the Placer County Explosive Ordinance Disposal team.

Upon the team’s arrival, a robot was used to gain access to the interior of a vehicle, pull the explosive device out, and place the device on the sidewalk.



A Placer County explosive ordinance disposal member carries an M type explosive device in front of City Hall along Broad Street, after a man brought the device to the police department for disposal.
Photo: Elias Funez

Once on the sidewalk, team members then approached the device before placing it inside a receptacle, to be put inside a trailer for later disposal.

The explosive device was determined to be a homemade version with an unknown age and origin. It’s unknown whether the explosive device was a remnant of the local gold mining era, or brought back as a souvenir from fighting in a foreign war.

A robot is used to examine and remove the explosive device from the back seat of a vehicle parked along Broad Street in downtown Nevada City. The device was safely disposed of.
Photo: Elias Funez

“I would suggest never accepting an item like that,” Stec said, who advised against bringing such items into populated areas.

“The key is not touching those things,” Stec added. “Staying away, who knows what the shelf life or stability is.”

Police say a blue Subaru near a business in the 300 block of Broad Street could have a possible stick of old dynamite.
Elias Funez

Broad Street was reopened to traffic by 4 p.m. and merchants and customers were allowed to repopulate the area.

To contact Multimedia Reporter Elias Funez, email efunez@theunion.com or call 530-477-4230

A robot from the Placer County explosive ordinance disposal team makes its way up Broad Street to the explosive threat Wednesday afternoon in Nevada City.
Photo: Elias Funez
The Placer County explosive ordinance disposal team approaches the explosive device Wednesday in downtown Nevada City, while Nevada City police officers and firefighters evacuate people and secure the scene.
Photo: Elias Funez
A Placer County explosive ordinance disposal member inspects the interior of the vehicle that contained the explosive device Wednesday in downtown Nevada City.
Photo: Elias Funez

Elias Funez is the multimedia reporter for The Union, a sister publication of the Sierra Sun. He can be reached at efunez@theunion.com


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