WWII-era cannon shell found in Rondout scrap yard

The things some people will throw away these days.

A World War II-era cannon shell was discovered in a Rondout scrap yard and set off an explosion of police response.

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Friday an employee of the Rondout Scrap Metal Company at 1501 Rockland Road called his office Thursday morning to say he had found something that did not look quite right.

In a place where old cars and junk are collected by the ton, a 21/2-foot long, 5-inch diameter cylindrical object that came to a menacing point somehow stood out.

"We talked to the guy and he said he could not be sure, but he really believed he was looking at an artillery shell," Curran said. "That is not the type of call we get every day, so we went all out."

Sheriff's officers closed Route 176 west of Route 43 and notified the Waukegan fire department bomb squad. The firefighters identified the object as a 155 mm shell commonly used in medium-to-long range Howitzers from World War II and beyond.

"It was decided that we needed some experts in this case, so we contacted the Army," Curran said. "They dispatched an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team from Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri to advise us."

The Army team arrived in Rondout on Friday morning. They dismantled the shell and found it did not have an explosive charge in the canister, Curran said. They did find a live detonating fuse, deemed threatening enough to convince the experts to take the shell to the sheriff's shooting range in Russell and give it a real bang.

"They took it out there and blew it up," Curran said. "Even without the explosive charge, a fuse that could have been 60 years old or more was too much of a danger to have around."

Officials believe the shell was a keepsake relic someone had in their home and simply decided to get rid of.

Traffic on Route 176 was again disrupted around 11 a.m. Friday as the shell was moved out, and Curran said he hoped people would understand why that was necessary.

"Our number-one priority is the protection of the public," he said. "Traffic was delayed and I am sure people were frustrated, but it was the only way we believed we could handle the situation."

He saluted Lake County sheriff's reserve deputies, who were called to the scene Thursday to form a perimeter around the scrap yard and prevent anyone from getting near.

"We called these people, who volunteer and do not cost the taxpayers any money, and essentially told them 'You need to stand around a bomb and keep people away from it,'" Curran said. "Every person we called responded, they were out there all night long, and we never heard a single complaint."

Blast: Army team called in from Missouri to detonate shell