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Bomb Scare Clears Out Homes in Wyoming County

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — It looked just a like a bomb and caused quite a commotion, but a bomb squad determined what forced people from their homes in Wyomin...

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- It looked just a like a bomb and caused quite a commotion, but a bomb squad determined what forced people from their homes in Wyoming County really wasn't an explosive.

After looking at what was found in the Washington Park development near Meshoppen, neighbors understood the need for alarm.

But Meshoppen police say this isn`t a bomb, just a very authentic looking fake one.

“The cop was standing there, he's like this is what it looked like, doesn't it look real?” said Michelle Simons. “Yeah, it does, looks totally real.”

“I know dynamite a little bit and that was a very convincing prop they had,” said Bryan Sharp.

Police say the new owner of 14 Jeanne Drive in Washington Township was cleaning out the basement when he found what appeared to be sticks of dynamite with a timer attached around 12:45 in the afternoon.

Police responded and homes on Jeanne Drive and two other streets were evacuated for hours as the Scranton Bomb Squad was called in.

“My husband called me, said don't bother coming home, they won't let you in,” said Simons.

“A lot of the people here work at Proctor & Gamble were working nights,” said Sharp. “My other neighbor said jeez, he wakes up to somebody pounding on his door, so you know you get a little excited.”

Children living in the development who attend school in the Tunkhannock Area School District were not allowed to return home.

They were taken to nearby Mehoopany Elementary School where their parents could pick them up.

“We got on the bus and then we went right back to Mehoopany after the kids were dropped off, except Washington Park,” said Alex Booch, a fourth grader at Mehoopany.

Police say the house has been vacant after the previous owner died some time ago.

Simons says that man was retired military and wonders if the fake bomb was his.

“When they said what house it was, I'm like, the guy collected a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff,” said Simons.

Once it was determined that the bomb was fake, that part of the neighborhood reopened around 4 p.m.

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