Aug. 31—A construction worker working underneath the 1300 block of Silver Bow Homes Monday afternoon found not a roomful of treasure but a box of dynamite in an old mine shaft.
The discovery led to the evacuation of tenants in the 1200, 1300 and 1400 block of the apartment complex.
The worker was investigating an underground tunnel, which included an 8-foot drop. He turned on his flashlight, saw the dynamite, quickly took a couple of photos and then exited to notify his supervisor.
Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester was notified of the discovery by Housing Authority Officer Jim Duddy. Lester in turn contacted the Butte-Silver Bow Fire Department.
B-SB Fire Chief Brian Doherty, Assistant Fire Chief Zach Osborne and a fire crew were quickly at the scene, along with two fire trucks.
According to Doherty, Mike McGivern of Montana Resources was brought on board. He sent his explosives experts, Buckley Powder, to the scene.
"We sent a firefighter down with gas monitoring equipment to identify any atmospheric or physical hazards," explained Doherty, "and deemed it safe."
The Buckley Powder explosives expert was then harnessed as well and brought down with the county firefighter. They determined it was safe to move the dynamite, and the box of explosives was brought to the surface.
"The space was continuously monitored for flammable gas, vapor and all hazardous atmospheric conditions during the process" Doherty said.
The dynamite was taken to Montana Resources to be detonated.
Tenants in approximately 35 apartments at Silver Bow Homes were evacuated for just under an hour.
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