BYFIELD — What a fire official called “old fireworks” had a lot of people hopping on Central Street Wednesday morning, after the State Police Bomb Squad was called out to investigate.
Newbury Fire Chief David Evans confirmed that a small cylindrical item with a long green fuse found at roughly 10 a.m. in the parking lot of a Pearson Plaza office building at 19 Central St., was indeed old fireworks. Although the building was evacuated, there was no danger to the public at any time.
Roughly a half an hour after the bomb squad arrived, the item was placed into a modified Ford F-150 and driven to the Martin H. Burns Wildlife Management Area off Orchard Street where it was destroyed out of an abundance of caution, according to first responders.
Newbury police and fire officials, in a press release, thanked the bomb squad for their professionalism as well as expertise during the incident. All the excitement was over well before noon.
One man who works at the Namics manufacturing company but did not wish to be identified said he saw the suspicious item, that looked like a tin can, lying in the parking lot shortly before 10 a.m.
Given that the object had a fuse attached to it and could have been a firework that had been tampered with or even a pipe bomb, he decided to call it into police.
“At first, I thought it was maybe a little motor. But then I saw that green, wick-like thing that went into it. So it definitely looked suspicious to me,” the man said. “I wondered if I was making a big deal of nothing. But then I thought, somebody could get their hand blown off here.”
After getting a look at the item, local first responders called in the bomb squad.
Bob Grossi, who owns Engineering Land Services near the office building, said it has been evacuated for a fire or carbon monoxide alarm. But he never saw as many work trucks, police cruisers and fire engines pull in as he did Wednesday morning.
“It’s been a real barrage here,” he said. “This place is located right off the highway, so someone could have driven by and ditched something in there.”
Grossi’s friend, Theresa Whitmire, was glad a fire engine was parked between her and the suspicious item.
“If something blows, that’s going to protect us,” she said.
All joking aside, both Grossi and Whitmire said they felt safe during the entire incident.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.