Museums worried about live shells
WAUPUN, WI—It wasn't a bomb threat, but the bomb squad was called to Waupun on Wednesday.
Jim Laird, Waupun Historical Society member, contacted Waupun Police Chief Dale Heeringa on Tuesday to have some ammunition at the Waupun Historical Museum checked for being potentially explosive. The ammunition is from the Civil War and World War I. Laird heard of an expert cannonball de-fuser having an old cannonball explode because of unstable contents.
With people working a wall's width away from the cannonballs and other explosives in the museum, Laird decided to have the items checked.
"Now's the time; we've got to do it," Laird said.
At about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Milwaukee City Police Hazardous Devices Unit arrived at the museum to determine if the materials were safe. They performed x-rays of six items, but were unable to determine conclusive results. The items needed to be tested with better equipment.
"We were not able to determine for sure because the equipment wasn't working the best," Milwaukee Police Department Detective Kennith Smith said.
Read entire article at http://www.wiscnews.com
Jim Laird, Waupun Historical Society member, contacted Waupun Police Chief Dale Heeringa on Tuesday to have some ammunition at the Waupun Historical Museum checked for being potentially explosive. The ammunition is from the Civil War and World War I. Laird heard of an expert cannonball de-fuser having an old cannonball explode because of unstable contents.
With people working a wall's width away from the cannonballs and other explosives in the museum, Laird decided to have the items checked.
"Now's the time; we've got to do it," Laird said.
At about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Milwaukee City Police Hazardous Devices Unit arrived at the museum to determine if the materials were safe. They performed x-rays of six items, but were unable to determine conclusive results. The items needed to be tested with better equipment.
"We were not able to determine for sure because the equipment wasn't working the best," Milwaukee Police Department Detective Kennith Smith said.