OPP warns residents against bringing unexploded ordnance to police stations

Provincial police are urging Ottawa residents not to bring unexploded ordnance to police stations, after a 77-year-old area resident brought a Second World War-era hand grenade and a second "live" shell to the OPP's Ottawa detachment Friday.

The woman had discovered the items while cleaning her basement and brought them directly to the station, but was instructed to leave the potentially explosive materials outside. "You don't know what condition they're in, whether they can still explode," said Const. Michael Fathi of the OPP's Ottawa detachment. "You don't want to take a chance."

The grenade remained outside the OPP detachment while explosives experts secured it pending arrival of Canadian Forces members from Petawawa to take possession and dispose of the device. According to historical records, a common U.S. Mk 2 hand grenade contained about 57 grams of TNT and could inflict casualties with shrapnel up to 45 metres away.

Fathi said it is not the first time he or his colleagues have been called to deal with such devices. "When I was posted at Kemptville, we had (explosives delivered to the post) several times," he said. The safest solution is for people to contact their local police to pick the device up, he stressed.