Dynamite Causes Scare Near School Thirteen Sticks Removed Safely After Mobile Homes Evacuated

Hayden fire officials evacuated part of a neighborhood Tuesday after aging dynamite was discovered just 100 feet from an elementary school.

Thirteen sticks of dynamite were found wrapped in a floor mat outside of a mobile home across the street from Hayden Lake Elementary School, said Wayne Syth, Hayden Lake fire chief.

Emergency workers evacuated several surrounding mobile homes and had children in the nearest classrooms move to the other end of the school.

“Thirteen sticks - that would have been a big boom,” Syth said Tuesday.

Explosives experts with the Spokane office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms were called to remove the explosives.

Although two of the dynamite sticks had ruptured, no blasting caps were found, making it unlikely it would have exploded, Syth said.

An ATF officer removed the explosives and took them to Spokane for analysis.

The dynamite appeared to be about 10 years old, Syth said.

Authorities are unsure where the explosives came from, said Bob Harper, ATF supervisor.

In July 1995, 500 pounds of dynamite were stolen from the Lucky Friday Mine near Wallace. Although authorities thought they recovered all of the stolen dynamite, ATF agents will be looking into whether Tuesday’s dynamite could have come from the Silver Valley, Harper said.

Larry Harpole, 51, called authorities after finding the dynamite at his trailer home on East Hayden Avenue. Harpole told investigators that he was cleaning up some of his son’s belongings when he found the dynamite some time ago, said Deputy Gary Telebar of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department.

Harpole became increasingly concerned about the dynamite marked “High Explosives” and reported it Tuesday.

Harpole said his 26-year-old son had previously lived at the mobile home but left several months ago, said Capt. Ben Wolfinger.

In January, an arrest warrant was issued for Todd Harpole for failing to appear in court for a suspended driver’s license charge. Authorities were unable to locate him Tuesday.

Harper said it is against federal law to store dynamite in a residential area. Dynamite also must be kept a safe distance from schools, he said.

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