Fire crews discover grenades at blaze

STEVINSON -- The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection responded to a mobile home fire about 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the 19000 block of Sixth Avenue outside of Stevinson, authorities reported.

The fire was quickly put out, but firefightersfound two WWII-era grenades in the rubble.

The Merced Police Department bomb squad was called in and the explosives were removed, buried and safely detonated.

"We have one mode and that's 'everything's live'," said Dave Alcaraz, bomb squad commander. "We removed them from the trailer and placed them in a hole with a counter charge."

The owner of the devices was a veteran of WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam, according to police officials.

"We run into a lot stuff vets bring home," Alcaraz said. "We treat everything as if it's real."

-- Sun-Star staff