West Bountiful police arrested Dwayne Raymond Hughes, 80, on Sunday after investigators said they found decades-old dynamite stored near fuel at his home. City officials later said they would evacuate the area near the house at 10:00 a.m. Monday for about 3 hours while public safety crews checked the scene.
Court documents said police were first called on Saturday to a home near 1400 North 1100 West for a domestic violence incident between the homeowner and his son, who both lived there. Police said the son was arrested and told them his father had explosives. With Hughes' consent, officers searched the property and found a container of dynamite experts said dated to the 1980s, along with a 2,500-gallon tank of diesel fuel nearby and some illegal fireworks.
The evacuation plan was the clearest sign that police believed the risk was immediate, not theoretical. Officials said residents did not need to remove their belongings, but they might want to bring medications or other immediate necessities, and shelter was available at 1930 North 600 West in West Bountiful for anyone displaced by the work.
Hughes was facing charges of possessing an explosive, unlawful possession of fireworks and reckless endangerment, and he was being held without bail. The arrest followed a domestic violence call, but the danger that forced neighbors to prepare to leave their homes came from what officers said was sitting inside the house: old dynamite beside diesel fuel.