WWII Grenade Scare At InfoAge / wp-2011-01-24
A 60-year-old hand grenade found among a box of donated radio parts caused a minor panic at InfoAge Monday, bringing out the State Police Bomb Squad.
The grenade, a WWII Japanese type 97, was found by a volunteer shortly after 5 p.m. at the Marconi Road science museum, said Steven Goulart, the museum's chief engineer.
"It was mixed in with a bunch of old parts that had been donated,'' Goulart said. "It could have been demilitarized, but you never know.''
Goulart said he called police, who responded along with firefighters from the Glendola Fire Company and township First Aid crews.
The State Police bomb squad was later called in. The bomb squad determined that the grenade had a live fuse, but contained no explosives.
Members of the squad disarmed the fuse and took the grenade away in a safe container around 6:20 p.m.
The museum, located on the grounds of the decommissioned Camp Evans, frequently receives unusual donations, Goulart said.
Fred Carl, the museum's founder, said the bomb was so unusual looking that it could have gone unnoticed if not for Goulart.
"I don't think anyone else would have been able to distinguish that from a box of old radio parts,'' Carl said.