West Bountiful officials ordered a bountiful evacuation for a neighborhood near a home where police say they found decades-old dynamite stored close to a 2,500-gallon diesel fuel tank. The evacuation was set to begin at 10:00 a.m. Monday and was expected to last about 3 hours.
The home belongs to Dwayne Raymond Hughes, 80, who was arrested Sunday and was being held without bail on charges of possessing an explosive, unlawful possession of fireworks and reckless endangerment. Police said they also found illegal fireworks at the home after getting consent from Hughes to search the property on Saturday.
The response began with a domestic violence call Saturday to a home near 1400 North 1100 West. Police said the dispute involved the homeowner and his son, both of whom lived there. The son was arrested, and while he was being taken into custody, he told officers his father had explosives at the house.
That tip led officers to search the property, where experts said the dynamite was from the 1980s and was found near the diesel tank. Public safety officials went door-to-door to notify residents directly, and city officials said people did not need to remove their belongings, though they could bring medications or other immediate necessities. A shelter was available at 1930 North 600 West in West Bountiful.
The evacuation is temporary, but the risk behind it is immediate enough that officials are clearing the area before daylight traffic and daily routines fill the neighborhood. Hughes’s arrest turned a domestic violence call into a hazardous materials response, and Monday’s evacuation is the practical answer to what police say they found inside the home.