Broken electronic cigarette shuts down traffic

A City of Dalton Gardens employee spotted what he thought was a pipe bomb near the intersection of Fourth Street and Hanley Avenue this afternoon and called Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputies. Deputies also believed the device was suspicious and called the Spokane Bomb Squad, according to a Sheriff’s Office Press Release. The bomb squad determined that the item was an broken electronic cigarette. Roads in the area were shut down for two hours while the item was investigated. The roads are now back open.