A homeowner cleaning out her garage freezer in North Hollywood discovered inside, triggering evacuations for dozens of residents and a bomb squad response Wednesday morning.
A North Hollywood homeowner discovered 20 sticks of live dynamite stored in a garage freezer, prompting LAPD bomb squad response and evacuations for dozens of residents Wednesday morning. The explosives are believed to have belonged to the homeowner's late husband.
A homeowner cleaning out her garage freezer in North Hollywood discovered inside, triggering evacuations for dozens of residents and a bomb squad response Wednesday morning.
The LAPD responded to the 6100 block of Rhodes Avenue, between the 170 Freeway and Whitsett Avenue, at approximately 9:10 a.m. after the woman called police to report the discovery, according to a department spokesperson.
The LAPD bomb squad confirmed the dynamite was active and safely removed approximately 11 pounds of explosives from the freezer, according to ABC7.
Bomb technicians soaked the sticks in diesel fuel to render them safe before placing them in a total containment vessel and transporting them to an undisclosed location, according to Capt. Warner Castillo of the LAPD North Hollywood Division.
"They decided to use diesel, especially because it was pretty hot out here. They take everything into account: the weather, the heat, humidity, wind gusts. It is a very dynamic formula," Castillo told the Los Angeles Times.
No fuses or blasting caps were found at the scene, Castillo said.
An estimated 32 community members were evacuated within a 500-foot radius of the home, Castillo told KTLA. Of those, 22 chose to remain in their homes. Officers went door to door to inform residents of the situation.
Several streets in the neighborhood were closed during the operation.
The homeowner told police she had no idea the dynamite was in her garage or how it got there, according to Castillo.
The LAPD believes the dynamite was owned by the homeowner's late husband, who passed away in 2014, according to the department. Investigators said the husband used to clear roads and may have stored the explosives in the freezer because he believed it was the safest place to keep them.
The couple purchased the refrigerator when they bought their home, Castillo told KTLA.
The LAPD is not treating the incident as a criminal matter and is classifying the dynamite as "lost/found property," Castillo said. Detectives are working to trace exactly where the explosives originated and how they ended up in the homeowner's freezer.
Dynamite cannot be purchased by the general public in California. It is restricted to licensed professionals working in mining, quarry operations, building demolitions, tunneling projects, and specialized industrial activities. Those professionals require state and local permits as well as authorization through the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"I am not an expert, but whoever put it there knew that it was going to be safe, for what it is worth," Castillo told KTLA.
Castillo warned that the dynamite could have caused severe damage had it detonated.
"Anything from hearing loss, a lot of vehicle alarms would be going off, and a lot of structural damage would have been done around the properties and, God forbid, some people could have lost their lives or even be maimed with that amount of dynamite," Castillo said.
No injuries were reported. There were no known threats associated with the discovery.
Castillo commended the homeowner for reporting the explosives and urged the public to follow her example.
This article was generated with AI assistance.