This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An old cache of unstable dynamite discovered by a hiker last week in the San Rafael Desert was safely detonated on site, Emery County Sheriff Greg Funk says.
Perhaps two-dozen sticks of aged dynamite — found in a deteriorating, partially uncovered wooden box inside a rock crevasse — were secured and blown up by the bomb squad from the neighboring Utah County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 31.
"This is a good time to remind everyone that old explosives are very unstable and should never be handled. If you discover explosives, do not touch them or attempt to move them," Funk stated Monday.
Instead, back off and call 911, the sheriff or local police so they can arrange for trained bomb experts to dispose of the material.
The Jan. 31 disposal mission marked the second time in recent months that Emery County deputies had been alerted to discovery of abandoned explosives. In October 2016, Utah County bomb experts also were called upon to destroy a burlap bag of dynamite.
The bag had been discovered by a landowner and companion salvaging wood from a collapsed building between the towns of Cleveland and Elmo.
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