300 Sticks of TNT Found Near Toledo

A Toledo man called police Monday night to report he found 300 bricks of TNT in a box partially buried in the woods behind his house near Spotted Doe Lane off of Classe Road, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

A bomb technician from the Washington State Patrol responded and examined the TNT and found that it was very stable, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office. The WSP removed the crate Tuesday morning and will dispose of it.

The man was walking through the woods, which was on private property, when he found a partially buried crate marked “US Military” at about 8 p.m., according to the release. The man opened the crate and found approximately 300 yellow sticks of TNT.

The man took about eight bricks home to further examine them before calling the sheriff’s office, according to the release.

Authorities believe the crate belonged to a 56-year-old Toledo man who was killed by dynamite explosion in December 1998, according to the release. At the time of his death, he had placed the dynamite in the back of his tractor and was driving on the 200 block of Classe Road when it blew up, killing him.

The man, whose name was not released, worked in an industry with explosives and had access to a large amounts of explosives, according to the release. He was also known to blow up stumps on his property.

Prior to his death, the man hid or buried multiple supplies of dynamite around his large farm, according to the release. After he died, deputies searched and located several boxes of explosives, but authorities believed that there were more explosives buried that they had been unable to find. The man owned a large amount of acreage.

“This incident could have turned out much differently had the TNT been unstable,” said Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield in the release. “This is a good reminder to everyone that if you find something suspected to be an explosive to call 911 immediately and not touch or transport it.”