Hill Air Force Base takes ownership of 500 lb bomb found in Provo
Sep 8, 2023, 12:04 AM | Updated: 12:34 am
CLEARFIELD, Utah — A 500-pound bomb now belongs to Hill Air Force Base.
Hill’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit was called out on Tuesday to an area near Interstate 15 in Provo.
“We were working with the Utah County bomb squad,” said Captain Bryce Muzzy. “They were on scene already and we decided it was a hazard we need to go check out immediately,” Muzzy said. “We verified that it was non-hazardous.”
Capt. Muzzy said the “drill bomb” was built before World War II and according to their data was likely used for air crews to load and unload jets.
While this bomb was a bit of a surprise, it’s not uncommon for the bomb squad to be called out.
“I’d say we get like a half dozen a year, that might not be as large as this,” he said.
“The bomb squad that we responded to had found 30 or 40 years ago a very similar bomb in that same area.”
A construction crew made the discovery. Muzzy said they did the right thing by calling Provo police first.
“We just want to emphasize whenever people do find things like this, it’s important for people to understand that it’s not just something to check out or mess it to call local authorities and they will route it to one of the local bomb squads or up to a local military team like us.”
