Bomb squad clears smoking box of dynamite that prompted evacuations

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - Knoxville Police Department officials lifted evacuations Friday night after more than 24 hours of working the scene of what police said they think is a 5-foot-by-5-foot box of dynamite.

It all began around 2:15 p.m. Thursday, when employees at CMC Recycling called 911 after finding the box, which was at the time smoking. The employees said there were around 200 sticks inside, according to Knoxville Police Department communications manager Scott Erland.

Erland also said investigators gathered that the employees used a torch to open the box, not knowing what had been left inside. Once the box started smoking and they realized what was inside, they called 911.

Thousands of people in Knox County received an evacuation alert Thursday afternoon, which asked people in a 3,000 foot — around half a mile — radius of the recycling center to leave.

Police Chief Paul Noel said some of the dynamite was removed by the robot and then by hand by responders from the police department, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the Metro Nashville Police Department.

The police spokesperson also said that there’s “no indication the box was placed maliciously,” something he reiterated from many of Thursday’s conferences. He further explained the box’s origins Friday morning.

“They believe that the box has been on their property for several days,” he said, referring to recycling facility. The company purchases scrap steel to recycle into other products, like rebar.

Erland said that technicians had used robot technology, with the help of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Metro Nashville Police Department, to get a sample of the box’s contents.

“We’re relying heavily on the robot technology to go in there," Erland said. “The concern is not the smoldering, but the potentially unstable nature of the material.”

Those samples were then analyzed, he said, and tested positive for ammonium nitrate, which is consistent with dynamite.

Friday evening, officials said blasting caps were also found inside the box with the dynamite.

They explained that blasting caps should be kept away from explosive material and should never have been stored together.

Because of this, Erland said they were unable to use robot technology to pull the explosives out, meaning the bomb squad had to remove the explosives by hand.

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon said the material was separated into seven piles before being soaked in diesel and burned.

They did not clarify how many sticks of dynamite were in the box.

“They are absolute heroes. They risked their lives for this community, and I could not be prouder,” Noel said.

Wilbanks said, between 1,000 and 2,000 people had been evacuated. Those without a place to go were taken to the Jacob Building at Chilhowee Park.

By 10 p.m. Friday, all evacuations were lifted.

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