Big Boom Rocks Olde Town

By Bruce Kettelle

A loud explosion startled Trotwood residents Wednesday afternoon. Reports of windows rattling and activated car alarms were wide spread in the Olde Town area.

The explosion created by the Wright Patterson Air Force Base Bomb Squad detonated some old military ordinance found in a shed in a nearby neighborhood.

Police Sergeant Fred Beck said the department was called to the home of a recently deceased retired US Marine. Family members were cleaning out the home.

“They did the right thing, they didn’t touch the munitions and immediately called us for assistance,” said Beck.

Police were able to identify a rocket-powered grenade, five smoke bombs, and a phosphorous grenade from the Korea and Vietnam Wars that were stored in a bucket. “They were pretty crusty (rusted) and since they were military devices we called Wright Pat instead of the Dayton Bomb Squad,” said Beck.

A Trotwood officer moved the items to nearby Sycamore State Park where the items were detonated. Beck said they chose the deserted horsemen’s area for safety reasons.

The explosion set off car alarms nearly two miles away along Trotwood Boulevard and elsewhere. Beck said dispatchers received about two-dozen calls from residents after the explosion mostly from the Stauffer Plat.