Earlier this week the U.S. Army notified the Harvard Board of Health that someone using a metal detector in the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge last month had found a hand grenade. On Nov. 22, the notice said, the Devens Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad had destroyed the grenade. No one was injured.
Finding old military munitions is always a possibility in Devens, the notice said, because it was an active military installation and training ground. “The Army reminds the public,” the notice stated, “that keeping munitions, even Civil War cannonballs, as souvenirs is dangerous.”
The right thing to do with an unknown object that might be a munition, according to the Army, is to follow the basic rules of explosives safety: recognize, retreat, and report. First, recognize that munitions are dangerous. Second, carefully leave the area; do not approach, touch, move, or disturb the object. Third, call 911 and report what you saw and where you saw it.
For further information, see www.3Rs.mil.
