STATE COLLEGE, Pa. --
Authorities said dynamite left in a backyard shed for decades sparked an evacuation in the Holmes-Foster neighborhood of State College on Monday.
Police, firefighters and other officials throughout Centre County swarmed around the home at 242 S. Gill St. to close off several streets and evacuate 80 residents.
"The owner of the house was a licensed demolitionist and he has since passed away, actually a year ago,” said State College police Lt. Keith Robb. “His wife was cleaning up and didn't realize."
Investigators told WJAC-TV that Penn State and State Police bomb technicians loaded the leaking dynamite into a special trailer that hauled the explosives to a cornfield in Ferguson Township.
First responders said that the explosives, dating back to the 1970s, we’re destroyed in a controlled burn early Tuesday morning.
"It was critical to move it. Once you begin to move it, we had to evacuate for the safety of the residents,” said State College police Chief Tom King. “Given its condition, if it were to detonate, neighbors would be at risk."
Police said charges or fines will not be filed against the woman who discovered the abandoned dynamite.
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