The Unified Fire Authority’s Bomb Squad responded to a Tooele City neighborhood Wednesday afternoon because of a suspicious package that later turned out to be an online order.
Police and fire units closed down Fairlane Drive around noon after receiving a call that a suspicious package was on the porch of a home near the intersection with 400 South, according to Tooele City Police Sgt. Tanya Kalma. The homeowners were alerted about the package, which appeared to be unmarked, by passer-bys in the neighborhood and then notified police.
The UFA Bomb Squad, part of the Utah Bomb Squad Task Force, responded within about an hour. Scans of the package showed there were electrical components to the device and it was deemed suspicious enough to be handled by the bomb squad, Kalma said.
Six homes on Fairlane Drive were evacuated as a precaution, according to Kalma.
“From the things that we saw, based on our procedures, it looked suspicious enough,” said UFA Bomb Squad Capt. Steve Ball.
Following the bomb squad’s investigation, they used a low-power energetic disruptor and determined there was no explosive, Ball said.
The homeowner later determined it was an online order they had forgotten about but the package had been set on the porch with the shipping label facing down, Kalma said. Ball said the bomb squad has responded to four calls this week alone and averages about 100 to 150 calls per year.
Anyone who discovers a suspicious package should contact local law enforcement to investigate it, Kalma said.
Since March 2, there have been three package bombings in Austin, Texas, which have killed two people and critically injured another. According to the Austin Police Department, the packages were average-sized delivery boxes and left on people’s doorsteps overnight.
