Evacuation order lifted in West Bountiful
by Pat Reavy ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- West Bountiful lifted an evacuation order after removing dangerous explosives Monday.
- Police arrested Dwayne Hughes, 80, for illegally storing old dynamite near diesel fuel.
- A bomb squad investigated, causing temporary Legacy Highway closure for safety reasons.
WEST BOUNTIFUL — The evacuation order for a West Bountiful neighborhood has been lifted. It had been in place since Monday morning while police removed potentially dangerous explosives.
The area around 1450 North and 1100 West was under a mandatory evacuation order for several hours while a bomb squad dealt with old dynamite that was found following the arrest of an 80-year-old man who police say was illegally storing the old explosives on his property.
Dwayne Raymond Hughes was booked into the Davis County Jail on Sunday night for investigation of possessing explosives, unlawful possession of fireworks and reckless endangerment.
West Bountiful police were originally called Sunday to 1425 N. 1100 West on a report of a domestic violence incident. Hughes' son was arrested in that case.
"During his arrest, the son uttered that his father possessed explosives on his property," according to a police booking affidavit
After the son was booked into jail, police returned to the father's property to verify the son's claims. In the backyard, Hughes shows police "a container housing a collection of dynamite, stored directly adjacent to a 2,500-gallon tank of diesel fuel. An empty box with an explosives placard was also observed in the yard, indicating the potential presence of primary explosive devices," the affidavit states.
A Davis County bomb squad was called to the scene. Upon further investigation, police said they learned that blasting caps and other explosive devices might have been kept inside the residence.
"From additional inquiries and investigative observation from the bomb squad, they learned that the dynamite was manufactured in the 1980s and had likely been stored on the arrestee's property for an undisclosed period without proper authority. The arrestee was taken to the West Bountiful Police Department for questioning, but he wished to exercise his right to have legal counsel present and did not agree to speak with investigators," according to police.
After Hughes was booked into jail and a search warrant for his property was obtained, "the bomb squad advised that depending on what materials and/or devices are discovered within the arrestee's home, a large-scale evacuation may need to be enacted," the affidavit states.
That evacuation included the temporary closure of the Legacy Highway between 500 South and Parrish Lane.
This story will be updated.
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Pat Reavy
Pat Reavy interned with KSL in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL or Deseret News since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.