An entire neighborhood in Northern California was evacuated after authorities and emergency responders found hundreds of military explosives inside the residence of a 70-year-old man who recently died.
Investigators in Stockton, California, did not immediately know how the deceased man got hold of the hundreds of explosives.
The police and paramedics around 9:10 am called in the bomb squad and authorities from the Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield after finding the explosives.
Joe Silva, a Stockton Police Officer, said, “They just left about an hour ago just because of how many types of devices are still in the home, they had to go back and get additional personnel.”
Nearly 20 houses in the neighborhood were evacuated.
The Record of Stockton said residents were brought to a Red Cross Shelter that is set up at a local community center.
According to the Stockton Police, the street of the entire neighborhood was closed right away.
Officer Silva said the evacuation of the entire neighborhood was necessary because there were a high number of explosives found inside the house.
Officer Silva added, “You have to look at each device, determine if it’s live or not and then figure out exactly how you’re going to move it out of the residence.”
Authorities did not immediately know if the 70-year-old man, who is dead, served in the military.
Authorities are finding out if anyone else living in the house served the military.
Dale Boyd, a neighbor, said the 70-year-old that lived in the home was a pleasant man.
Boyd said the deceased man never caused any problem.
The explosive devices were stockpiled inside the home when authorities came.
The military personnel needed to return to the base for extra help.
The police said, “They’ll be back here first thing [Friday] morning so that they can try to figure out what these devices are and if any are live, and then try to determine how they’re going to get them out of the house safely.”