Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. GEORGE — A police officer discovered a 6-inch piece of PVC pipe filled with explosives from fireworks outside of Pine View High School Monday, officials said.
Investigators believe the device, which also had a fuse attached to it, was not a threat to anybody or to the high school. It was a homemade firework or firecracker, according to St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain.
After members of the bomb squad assessed the situation, they determined it was explosive and destroyed the device.
Despain said creators of the device likely emptied the contents of store-bought fireworks into the pipe for a bigger and louder firework than they could buy at the store. The act is not only dangerous, it's illegal, he said.
“Fireworks are dangerous enough as they’re bought at the stands and you need to use extreme caution when you use them,” Despain said. “But anytime you alter them, change them, make homemade explosive devices could potentially be very dangerous, and it is a concern for us, and is something we take very serious.”
Despain added this device could potentially cause injury and isn't safe, which is why police called the bomb squad to make sure nobody was in danger.
Police do not yet know who created the explosive or how many there were, but they found evidence from fragments of PVC pipe indicating at least one other explosive had been detonated at the scene.
Despain said there are a lot of unanswered questions investigators are looking into and the situation is currently under investigation.
Police received no calls of injuries in connection with this investigation, but there were a lot of fireworks going off all over town over the holiday, Despain said.
Contributing: Stace Hall
