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Fla. Homes Evacuated When 30 Unexploded World War II Bombs Found

December 3, 2007

A Key West, Fla., landscaping crew about to grind a tree stump stumbled across 30 World War II mortar shells buried in the ground on property once owned by the U.S. Navy.

A worker hit and broke one of the live shells last week, but it did not detonate. The mortars could have done serious damage had they exploded, Sgt. Bobby Randolph of the Monroe County Sheriff's office said.

As a precaution, about a dozen homes were evacuated and all cars were cleared from the immediate area when a bomb squad removed the explosives.

"People get really excited about bombs, as well they should,'' sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.

Herrin said authorities would contact Naval officials to "see if they want to destroy them. If not, we will.''

Some bombs and shells used in World Wars I and II are loaded with phosphorous and can easily burst into flame on exposure to the atmosphere.

Information from: Key West Citizen, http://www.keysnews.com

Comments

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What a nasty surprise for an MD'er..... yikes, better use a plastic trowel in that area. Cheers, RickO
  • Scarey stuff! That worker was very lucky. Unexploded ordinance is quite often found near where I live, where there was a heavy military presence during WWII (and still is). They are unexploded shells from live-fire excerises, and they're mostly found near a residential area, in canyon where children like to play and explore.


    Bob
  • guitarwesguitarwes Posts: 9,266 ✭✭✭

    I wonder if they sound like a "pop-top" in the headphones? image

    @ Elite CNC Routing & Woodworks on Facebook. Check out my work.
    Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
  • kevinstangkevinstang Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭
    A couple of years ago my local paper had a story of a guy finding a live 76mm tank shell near me while digging a new drive way entrance to his property. Seems during WW2 they held training excercises for one of the armored divisions stationed at Ft. Drum, I think then it was Ft. Pine or something like that. They figured it must have fallen off a tank or been ejected as a dud back then and left in ditch.
  • gene2393gene2393 Posts: 769 ✭✭✭
    thats an interesting story, Lordmarcovan


    gene2393
  • i once dig a hand grenade in Golden Gate park in S.F.. another time in that same park i dug 2 full M16 magizines and yet another time a 50cal cartridge. gotta wonder how many people are carrying live ammo at any given time.
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