An RCMP explosives disposal unit was in the Sea to Sky corridor for the second time in less than a week Saturday when a hiker in the Britannia Beach area came across of "a quantity of explosives," according to an RCMP press release, along Highway 99.
The incident also left weekend highway drivers sitting in their vehicles for over an hour as police disposed of the dangerous discovery.RCMP received the report of dynamite in a wooded area 2 km north of Furry Creek in the early afternoon Saturday (Sept. 15)."It was in a wooded area and deteriorated, so it had been there for some time," said Cpl. Dave Ritchie, who specified that it would have pre-dated highway improvement work.
At approximately 1:45 p.m., an RCMP truck emblazoned with its function - Explosives Disposal Unit - traveled from Surrey to the location where the explosives lay on the ground.
"Due to the unsafe nature and instability of the explosives, they could not be transported and were destroyed near the location they were found," stated the RCMP release. "In order to protect public safety, it was necessary to close Highway 99 in both directions for a period of time to facilitate the destruction of the explosives."
RCMP wouldn't reopen the road to traffic until an hour and a half later. The explosives unit's members moved the dynamite to the roadside, then doused the dynamite in water and ignited it to dispose of it. Travelers could see a small fire burning next to the explosives unit truck as they drove by the scene just after 3 p.m.
"We had fire and EHS [emergency health services] stand by as they disposed of it," said Ritchie.
Police still does not know where the explosives originated, but RCMP members have a few leads in their investigation, said Ritchie.
"There were some dates and some codes on it that we're looking at to see if we can determine the origin and where it may have been taken from," he said.
The dynamite may have been stolen in an unsuccessful plan to sell to other criminals, said Ritchie.
"They [potential buyers] would want to know how [the thief] got it," said Ritchie. "If they don't know who [the thief] is, they're not going to take the dynamite."
