PORT TOWNSEND — A pipe bomb discovered and disarmed at Blue Heron Middle School after police evacuated the Mountain View campus most likely was confiscated from a student at least 10 years ago, according to the district’s superintendent.
“It’s a puzzle,” David Engle said Friday.
“But I don’t think anyone will be able to know how it got there at this point.”
Engle said the pipe bomb was discovered Friday in a walk-in storage unit adjacent to the science classrooms that is used to store hazardous materials and which had not been inventoried for some time.
A student who brought such a device to school today would have been treated differently, Engle said.
“Post-2011, everything escalated in responding to events like this, whether the intentions were innocent or not,” he said,
Port Townsend Police Officer Luke Bogues said the bomb had no detonator attached, but police feared the chemicals in it could be unstable.
“You never know what could set this off, as the chemicals are very old,” he said.
“It could have been set off by a spark or even a radio signal from a cellphone.”
Bogues said the active element in the device had not been identified, but it contained an explosive with shrapnel that was designed to do damage.
It was discovered by Richard Heck, a member of the janitorial staff who found it next to several chemical jars.
He took the sealed-off pipe and the chemicals to the police station at the Mountain View campus, arriving at around 10:45 a.m.
Police immediately evacuated some 30 people from the campus, which houses the KPTZ-91.9 FM radio station, an office of the American Red Cross of the Olympic Peninsula, the YMCA, the Port Townsend Food Bank, the temporary Port Townsend Library and the public pool.
Police cordoned off the area and closed traffic on Blaine Street in front of the campus.
The public was allowed back into the area at 2 p.m.
The State Patrol Bomb Squad discovered there were hazardous materials such as mercury and acids inside a separate container Heck brought to police.
That added fear for public safety because if the bomb had exploded, those chemicals would have been dispersed into the air.
After the bomb was destroyed, those chemicals were taken for disposal at the hazardous-waste-disposal facility at the Port of Port Townsend.
During the evacuation, KPTZ switched to automated operation. It broadcast a news report about the event after being allowed back into the building.
It is uncertain how any investigation will proceed, according to Bogues.
“The bomb was in the building for 15 or 20 years, so we don’t know how much we will be able to find out,” he said.
“I don’t think we can prove any criminal intent. All we know is that a science teacher who retired several years ago had the device in a closet near his classroom.”
Bogues said Heck should have left the device in place and contacted authorities.
Since school was out of session, no evacuation would have been necessary.
Agencies who assisted in the incident were the Port Townsend Police Department, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue, the State Patrol, the Naval Magazine Indian Island fire department, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Coast Guard.
“The public was cooperative and understanding during this incident, which made it a lot easier,” Bogues said.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
