On Sunday evening, a woman called the Eureka Police Department about a large, old military artillery shell found buried in her garden bed in Eureka. EPD shut down nearby roads and called a shelter in place for the neighborhood. The Humboldt County Explosive Ordnance Disposal team removed the shell and blew it up in Samoa near 10 p.m., startling many residents.
“The resident had no idea it was there until after she started cleaning her back yard,” wrote Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal in an email. He said the shell had been there for some time.
EPD responded to the call around 6:30 p.m. and briefly shut down roads in the area. According to Brittany Powell, spokesperson for EPD, a reverse 911 was sent out to ask the neighborhood around the 3300 block of H Street to shelter in place. The shelter in place ended around 8:45 p.m., when two EOD personnel removed the device.
The device was taken to a “safe location in the Samoa area,” wrote Honsal, where it was then detonated.
People around Humboldt Bay may have heard two loud booms later Sunday evening, the source of which was the EOD team rendering the shell safe. EOD, which handles explosive situations, detonated explosive charges in Samoa at around 9:45 p.m. and again around 10 p.m.. The sound carried into Eureka.
No arrests, damages or injuries came as a result of this incident. There is no threat to the community.
Sage Alexander can be reached at 707-441-0504.
