Things were explosive in Pictou Friday afternoon.
The RCMP called in members of Canada’s Maritime Explosive Disposal Unit, a special division of the Navy out of CFB Shearwater, to view and assess two pieces of military ordinance found by a town resident.
The ammunition shells measured up to 13 inches long and three inches in diameter. Believed to be approximately 30 years old, a resident had found them in his garage and it’s believed the previous owner left them there.
An initial report from Pictou County District RCMP’s Const. Ryan Adlam indicated that the shells were suspected to be live ammunition.
Two representatives from the explosive unit arrived on scene around 2:30 p.m. and confirmed that one of the shells was, in fact, a potential explosive hazard.
Police escorted the shell to the rock quarry near Beeches Road, where the RCMP and explosive unit members cleared the area and detonated two separate charges of military grade C4 plastic explosives strapped to the live shell to ensure its destruction.
“The resulting blasts rang out at super sonic speeds and decibel levels,” Adlam said.
