Crime & Safety

Police Find Inert Explosives at Abandoned House in Kirkland

Kirkland Police say the material was for construction use and posed no danger to the public. It was taken for disposal by the Bellevue Police bomb squad.

An inert explosives substance was found Wednesday morning at an abandoned house along 120th Avenue NE on Rose Hill in Kirkland and was being disposed of by the Bellevue Police Department bomb squad, say Kirkland police.

There was no danger to the public, said Kirkland Police Department spokesman Lt. Mike Murray, but the house next door was evacuated as a precaution and 120th Avenue was closed.

The house is between Lake Washington High School (on NE 80th) and NE 85th Street, the major thoroughfare on Rose Hill. But no lock down or other precautions at the school were necessary, Murray said.

City of Kirkland maintenance workers at the adjacent city cemetery spotted the material, in packaging labeled as explosives, and police arrived just after 8:00 a.m. The Bellevue bomb squad was called in and determined the substance was inert and that another substance necessary to make it explosive was not present.

“It looks like it was all construction-type stuff,” Murray said. “We called the Bellevue bomb squad and they are taking it for disposal.”

A Kirkland Patch reader reported heavy police activity in the area Monday morning, adding that 120th was blocked.

Murray said the road was closed as a precaution, and that police would be finished at the scene by about 9:30 a.m.


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