Kensington’s municipal building has reopened to the public, a day after a resident dropped off old military weapons on Monday evening.
Two representatives from the Department of National Defence made a trip to the Island Tuesday morning, staying for less than an hour before removing the two items from the central P.E.I. town’s police department and taking them back to 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown in New Brunswick.
A mortar shell from the Second World War was eventually identified as a dud, with no potential to explode, but a half canister containing rocket fuel could have had the power to cause damage. On Tuesday, police said they were not sure where the fuel had originally come from or what its intended use was.
“The mortar looked like something you’d see off a movie,” Kensington Police Chief Landon Yuill said.
“The canister looked like a canister. Both of them were really rusty so you could tell they were old, but that’s all we know about them.”
CBC News asked for images of the objects but the request was denied.
Yuill said items like this have been surrendered to Kensington police before, unsurprisingly given how many Islanders served in overseas combat arenas.
“Someone, at some point, would have taken them home with them, possibly from the war, and had it maybe as a keepsake,” he said.
“We’ve had things turned in before — normally something like a grenade that’s hollowed out and you can tell it’s a souvenir. But with this, you couldn’t tell just by looking at it if it was spent or if it was charged or what it was.”
Yuill had told CBC News on Monday night that the municipal building was shut down as a precaution, causing a scheduled town council meeting to be delayed until Tuesday evening at 6 p.m.
Unstable objects
The DND has guidelines on what to do if unexploded explosive ordinance (UXO) is discovered.
Time and rust can make these items unstable, so people are urged to follow these steps if they discover any.
- “Do not touch it, move it, throw things at it or strike it with other objects,” is the first recommendation, saying it could kill or injure someone if it blows up.
- Then people are advised to make a note of where they saw the object before leaving the location the same way they came to it, and try to prevent anyone else from approaching the object while they await help.
- “As soon as possible, call 911 or contact the local police,” the DND post continues.
