BREAKING: Officials close 299E in Bella Vista after suspicious device located, detonated
UPDATED: Wednesday, May 1, 1 p.m. With additional details from scene regarding detonation and road re-opening.
BELLA VISTA — Bomb Squad members and other authorities are at the scene of a possible pipe bomb that was reportedly discovered this morning, Wednesday, May 1. Radio traffic and witnesses at the scene have indicated the suspicious device was found by a CalTrans crew doing maintenance along the side of SR-299E, between Kern Dr. and Deschutes Rd.
Official radio traffic indicates officials are preparing to temporarily close down the highway, while technicians inspect and evaluate the suspicious device and determine if it poses any danger or risk to the public.
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CHP, Shasta County Sheriff’s Department, and other emergency personnel were first alerted to the suspicious device this morning after a CalTrans crew discovered what they described as a “possible pipe bomb” while performing weed abatement along the side of the highway, east of Kern Dr. and west of Deschutes Rd. and My T Fine Foods.
Officials are currently setting up equipment along the side of the highway near where the suspicious item was found. Radio traffic, as well as witnesses at the scene, have indicated CHP plans on temporarily closing the highway once additional CalTrans officials arrive at the scene to assist with shutting down the road.
Ernie Fuller, of Facebook’s Ernie Fuller Fire Information, who has been filming at the scene since the call was first dispatched, updated at about 12:50 p.m., that the roadway had been closed and that Bomb Squad technicians were preparing to detonate the device at the scene.
Moments later, 19 minutes and 32 seconds into his video, Fuller updated that Bomb Squad members had just detonated the device, which could be heard on his live-stream video, and can be viewed below.
The highway was re-opened a few minutes after the device was detonated.
None of the involved agencies have provided any official details or information about this incident and are expected to release a statement soon.
This is a developing story that will be updated as new information is available.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.