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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

New tenant’s find leads to evacuation of neighbors

Bomb squad detonates device, discovers surveying materials

A man moving into an Airway Heights trailer Thursday evening made a find that invited bomb squad members as his first house guests. While cleaning his new home on West 12th Avenue, the man found two PVC tubes underneath his front porch. One of the tubes had capped ends and materials inside, which led the man to call Airway Heights Police, said Sgt. Tom Gravelle, a department spokesman. Airway Heights called the Spokane County bomb squad around 7 p.m. and evacuated some of the surrounding homes, he said. After the bomb squad tested the materials by blowing them up, the team discovered maps used for contracting or surveying, Gravelle said. There were no explosives, just piping used as storage, he said. They checked the rest of the property and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. The trailer was abandoned about a month ago, Gravelle said. The tenant continued to move in Thursday, and all evacuees returned to their residences after 10 p.m., he said.