Idaho Falls Bomb Squad races to Rexburg's Rescue Wednesday afternoon

The Idaho Falls Bomb Squad disposed of a hand grenade that had been turned in at Rexburg police headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.

REXBURG — The Idaho Falls Bomb Squad came to Rexburg's rescue Wednesday afternoon.

The situation began to unfold around 2:30 p.m. when a person brought a suspected World War II-era hand grenade to the Rexburg Police Department headquarters on East Main Street. The individual had recently attended an estate sale and purchased militaria that came with ammunition, bags and other items, police said.

"The individual discovered what appeared to be a WWII-era hand grenade among the surplus items," Rexburg police said in a Facebook post.

Once police determined they had a live hand grenade in their possession, they evacuated adjacent buildings, shut down East Main Street and sent out an emergency alert to the community.

The Idaho Falls Bomb Squad quickly responded to Rexburg to dispose of the grenade.

By 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, the bomb squad had taken possession of the grenade and Rexburg police reopened East Main Street and rescinded the evacuation order.

"(Bomb squad personnel) professionally took possession of the device for safe destruction," Rexburg police said.

Rexburg police said there was "no indication (the grenade) was placed or intended as a threat to the public."

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