Officials from the local Health Department and Environmental Protection Agency were called to the address in Holladay following reports of hazardous materials being kept there. Upon arrival, large amounts of dynamite were discovered, with the bomb squad and United Fire Authority also called to the scene.
Speaking to reporters, Capt. Tony Barker of Unified Fire Authority, said that other officials, including from the Utah Department of Health, EPA, Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center and Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake and Holladay City, have put in place a “mitigation plan” that will see a controlled detonation at the home.
“They’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that we can pull this off as safely as possible without risk to community or surrounding structures,” Barker said. He also described the dynamite in question as “ancient” and it seems to have been “passed down from generation to generation.”
“So how old it is we actually do not know,” Barker said, adding that there was a large amount of the explosive inside the home.
The detonation is currently planned to take place on Wednesday morning local time. The Unified Fire Authority has been contacted for further comment via email.
The blast is not expected to damage any nearby homes. “This controlled detonation will keep everything within the footprint of that lot,” Barker said. “There should be no issue.”
However, Barker said that the home where the detonation will take place will be “uninhabitable” following the explosion.
“The lone resident that is there currently, she is in a hotel at this time away from the structure itself, and they’ve made the necessary arrangements for her to come and get personal items that are important to her,” he said.
Crews were called to the home Tuesday after the resident called a friend over for advice on how to remove the explosives.
“It wasn’t anything malicious, just a call to a friend and said, ‘Hey, I don’t know what to do with this stuff, maybe you could come and take a look?'” Barker said. “And the friend came, and that’s when calls were made.
“To say that she was a collector of fine explosives would not be an understatement,” he added. “This is pretty impressive in scope.”
It is unclear if the homeowner will face criminal charges at this stage.
