ILION - Firefighters called to douse a blaze in the bedroom of a West North Street apartment Monday night found guns, ammunition, drugs and homemade bombs, village police said Tuesday.
Police said firefighters were called to the building at 20 W. North St. at 6:20 p.m. As they put out the fire, police said firefighters discovered numerous long guns and handguns, large amounts of ammunition, drugs and drug paraphernalia, fireworks and several homemade bombs and bomb-making materials.
Firefighters immediately called village police, police said. After obtaining a search warrant, village police, with assistance from state police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, removed the items.
The resident of the apartment, 23-year-old Kevin M. Baker, was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, police said, but additional charges are expected after an investigation is completed.
Baker was arraigned in Village Court and sent to the Herkimer County jail on $25,000 cash bail or $40,000 bond, police said. He is due to return to Village Court at 10 a.m. today.
Michael Church, who lives nearby, said he saw firefighters battling the blaze, then saw police there later in the evening.
"You would never think it would happen on your street," he said. "You've got kids around. It's mind-boggling."
Another neighbor, Sara Aloisio, said the discovery left her concerned for her safety.
"It's a scary thing," she said. "What if the house blew up? It's horrible.
"You read about nuts in Iraq; you don't think you'd have one on your street."
