3 homes evacuated after house cleaner finds grenade

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — A routine cleaning at a Central Jersey home caused a neighborhood scare Monday.

A person cleaning a home on Tanner Drive discovered a hand grenade, according to township police, who called in the State Police Bomb Squad. Three nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution as fully protected members of the squad removed the device from the home.

It was found to be inert.

Beach replenishment at the Jersey Shore has revealed discarded munitions and other potential explosives in the sand sucked from the ocean floor and pumped ashore including seven World War I rifle grenades were found on the beach in Mantoloking last March.

Military and civilian experts say they don't know of anyone in the United States being injured by munitions found on a beach but agree the potential for injury is real.

If you come across an old explosive device it's best to leave it alone and call 911.

“The problem is you just don't know,” Master Sgt. Brad Kline, an explosives disposal expert at New Jersey's Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst said last March “There could be explosive residue left behind. It's definitely not worth the risk” of handling it.

Military personnel use explosives to blow up munitions that are discovered on the beach and brought to the base.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report