Crews detonate dynamite

A lot of luck and a lot of cool heads were able to keep a dangerous situation safe for safety workers this week.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a call Monday afternoon, advising that an Environmental Restoration worker had found dynamite in the attic of an unused building of the Western Montana Mental Health Center.

The worker was conducting routine amphibole asbestos cleanup in the building when he noticed a box of dynamite and, based on his past experience, thought the box likely contained several sticks of deteriorated explosives.

Dynamite, when stored for long periods of time, can begin to sweat nitroglycerin and become even more volatile. The dynamite in the Montana Mental Health Center’s building was dated 1948 and had deteriorated to the point where it posed a danger to any persons nearby.

“That was the luckiest day of his life,” said Libby Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tom Wood of the Environmental Restoration worker. 

Had the worker accidentally crushed the box or had any static electricity on his clothing, this story would be very different.

   Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies, Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, Libby Volunteer Fire Department and Libby Volunteer Ambulance responded to the scene Monday evening.

   A visiting explosives expert just happened to be in Libby, assisting on a project on Pipe Creek Road. According to Wood, he was going to an ATM in town when he heard several firefighters talking about the dynamite, and he offered his help.

   The expert took preliminary measures to secure the dynamite for the night, spraying the box with diesel fuel. The fuel cuts down on the volatility of the explosives and allows it to be moved. Overnight security was established and the Missoula City/County Bomb Team (MCCBT) was called.

   MCCBT arrived at 10 a.m. Tuesday and began to formulate an action plan with local responders.

   Montana Machine and Fabrication loaned a forklift and pallet that was used to take down the box of eight sticks of dynamite and place it away from buildings in the adjacent field.

   More dynamite was found in the attic, and rather than a potentially dangerous removal, they decided to have two simultaneous explosions.

   With a suppressing spray of water courtesy of LVFD to keep down debris and dust from the Zonolite packed outbuilding, the explosions in the attic and field went off at 2:07 p.m.

   The attic detonation went off without a hitch. The field explosion caused a small brushfire that was quickly extinguished.

   The building where the dynamite was found will be demolished at a later time.