07/07/2009

Associated Press

Police evacuated several homes in a Medford neighborhood during the Fourth of July weekend while explosive experts removed 56 half-pound sticks of dynamite from an upright freezer.

Jackson County sheriff's Detective Sgt. Colin Fagan says a 26-year-old man discovered the old dynamite while shooting in a rural area and took it to his father's house.

The father placed the explosives in a freezer before driving to the Medford police station to contact an officer.

Fagan gave the father credit for contacting the police, but says storing the dynamite in the freezer was dangerous. Freezing causes expansion. And if the dynamite had detonated, it would have been a big explosion.

Explosive technicians removed the dynamite with the aid of a robot, and it was detonated under controlled circumstances.

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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/