Old bomb unleashes fresh fears

Deirdre Newman

A treasure trove of memories turned up quite a scare for a

resident Tuesday when she found an explosive with a fuse attached

inside an old trunk belonging to her father.

The shocking find led to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s

bomb squad being called out to the house in the 2000 block of

Westminster Avenue and to the evacuation of nearby homes just before

1 p.m.

It’s now up to squad members to determine whether they can disarm

the World War II-era device or must detonate it, said Lt. Dale Birney

of the Costa Mesa Police Department.

“[The family] was concerned over the fact that it still had a fuse

attached inside -- any time they find an ordnance like that, it still

has the potential of exploding,” Birney said.

The resident, who did not want to disclose her name, said she was

getting ready for a garage sale Sunday when she found her father’s

trunk, which hadn’t been opened in about 40 years. Her father had

served in the Royal Air Force.

“We were surprised because we thought it was just letters and old

uniforms,” she said.

While the woman at first thought it was a hand grenade, it turned

out to be an explosive that is launched with a rifle. Although she

found it Sunday, she waited until Tuesday to call the police.

Six nearby homes were evacuated for a little more than an hour,

Birney said.

In April, a suspected bomb found in Newport Beach turned out to be

a replica of a World War II grenade. The bomb squad also was called

out in that case, but no homes were evacuated.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.